Montgomery County proclaims January Human Trafficking Awareness Month, honors retiring vice unit sergeant

Montgomery County officials on Jan. 21 proclaimed January 2025 as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month, reaffirming county efforts to prevent trafficking, support survivors and strengthen interagency enforcement and victim services.

Council members described a countywide, multidisciplinary response that includes law enforcement, victim-assistance providers, health-care partners and community organizations. Wendy Sickle, chair of the county’s Human Trafficking Prevention Committee, summarized recent public-awareness work including a bus and poster campaign and trainings for varied audiences, and she invited additional stakeholders to join the committee’s work.

Captain Ian Clark of the Montgomery County Police Department highlighted vice-unit enforcement activity. He said July 2024 state legislation made it a felony to practice massage therapy without proper licensing, creating a new enforcement tool. Captain Clark reported approximately three dozen inspections of spas and body‑work establishments by the vice unit that resulted in nearly three dozen civil citations and 11 felony charges (transcript language). County officials said enforcement is part of a three‑tier approach: victim advocacy, civil work and criminal investigations.

County officials presented a certificate honoring retired Detective Sergeant Dave Papalia for nearly 30 years of service, including leadership in the vice unit beginning in 2015. County Executive Mark Elrich and other speakers stressed that human trafficking affects diverse populations and that prevention requires coordinated action across county agencies and community partners such as the University of Maryland Safe Center, Casa de Maryland and local victim services organizations.

The formal proclamation cited trafficking’s complex causes, at‑risk populations and the county’s ongoing commitments to detection, regulation of establishments and survivor support. No new funding or ordinance was passed during the proclamation portion of the meeting; officials described ongoing collaborations and recent enforcement results and asked residents and providers to join prevention and awareness efforts.