Four arrests were made, and 10 victims were placed in victim services, during a human trafficking operation in Richmond on June 11 that focused on the 23rd Street corridor, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
Richmond police officers with the Community Violence Reduction Team and patrol supported the DA’s Human Trafficking Unit during the operation. The 10 victims were put in contact with victim services provided by Community Violence Solutions, Family Justice Center and the DA’s Office, according to the DA. The alleged traffickers who were arrested were not identified.
Human trafficking is a longstanding problem on 23rd Street. The June 11 was one of two targeting human trafficking hot spots in Contra Costa County. In PIttsburg, four arrests were made during an operation on June 4. Richmond police participated in that operation as well, as they are part of the multi-agency task force that makes up Contra Costa County’s Human Trafficking Task Force.
“The focus of each operation was to stem traffickers from exploiting victims, provide services on the scene for victims and deter future criminal activity in West County and East County,” the DA’s office said. “The task force is a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort among local, state and federal law enforcement and community-based victim service providers to take a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach to the investigation and prosecution of all forms of trafficking and related criminal conduct in our community.”
The Task Force, formed in 2018 thanks to a federal grant, encourages anyone with information regarding any acts or suspicions of human trafficking to contact the Contra Costa County Human Trafficking tip line maintained by the District Attorney’s Office at (925) 957-8658.
