Vista Fire Trained to Spot Trafficking Victims

Soroptimist member Allison Temples, standing in for Kaye Van Nevel, opened meeting by having all attendees stand and introduce themselves, and invited an community announcements.

• Marianne Grisez announced that St. Thomas More Church collects CRV recycling the first Saturday of each month from 9 am to noon in the church parking lot at 1450 S. Melrose Drive, Oceanside, with proceeds benefitting the St. Thomas More Community Garden. She also reminded us that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
• Jackie Huyck from Soroptimists announced Soroptimist Int. of Vista NCI’s “Bunco de Mayo” fundraiser May 4, 2024 at the Gloria McClellan Senior Center. Tickets are $25 per person which includes a light lunch; proceeds benefit women and girls’ education. More information on our website or RSVP HERE
• Kaysee Morota announced that she will be introducing a guest speaker at our next May 9 Collaborative meeting. The speaker is from Ethiopia originally and will speak about her experience with human trafficking.
• Vista Council member Katie Melendez spoke about the importance of community engagement and what the City of Vista is doing to fight trafficking as well homelessness. She recently spearheaded a shoe drive, in coordination with the City of Vista and Soroptimist Int. of Vista NCI as part of National “Shoe the World” Day. Donations will be delivered to homeless shelters and services. See https://www.thevistapress.com/childrens-shoe-drive-in-vista/ 

Guest Speaker Edward Kramer, Emergency Manager, City of Vista Fire Administration
Mr. Kramer introduced himself as transplant from Connecticut. He has a degree in Public Health and said he got into emergency management after 9/11, which happened while he lived in Connecticut. After retiring and moving to California, he decided to go back to work after the Covid crisis. His focus is on making Vista “resilient” after emergencies, which he defined as “not just coming back, but coming back better.”

He was involved in the recent Town Hall on Human Trafficking Town Hall held in February at the Vista Civic Center. They had over 200 people attending. He was especially impressed by one woman who spoke of being trafficked at age 14. She had been gaming online and began an online romantic relationship with a 21-year-old man who after six months of schmoozing her with gifts and compliments told her he needed money and had her engage in trafficking. She was blackmailed and coerced and this continued for 6 years until she finally escaped.

Kramer wants us all to do more prevention work and education of the community to recognize the signs of trafficking. He said oftentimes victims are more trusting of fire personnel than they are of police. Fire departments are now training their personnel to look out for signs of trafficking when they are out on calls. They now have mechanisms in place for first responders to submit reports of suspicious activity. For example, if they go to a home to put out a fire and see mattresses on the floor, that could be a sign of trafficking activity. Homeless encampments often have trafficking activity, tattoos on a patient in an ambulance might indicate they are a trafficking victim. “You don’t need handcuffs and locked rooms to keep victims from escaping,” he said. “It’s more a psychological kind of torture and it happens everywhere.”

He mentioned Vista’s Community Safety Commission, formed to conduct dialogue between and with the public, the City’s Fire Department and all law enforcement services. Information about the Commission can be found on the City of Vista’s website. (Interested citizens can receive e-notices on a variety of issues from the City of Vista’s website by visiting cityofvista.com and clicking on “Get E-Notices.”) “The fire station should be a safe space,” he said. “The City Manager and myself have a plan for a walking tour of the neighborhoods.” He said that people need to know that the fire department has resources and connections to help them. “We need to build trust,” he said.

Legislative News

Laurie Davies’ office announced some trafficking-related legislation to watch:
AB 1966, AB 2307 and AB 2308. AB 1066 would require a notice about trafficking with number to call for help to appear somewhere on each e-ticket sold online.
AB 2307 deals with victim reimbursement and self-defense training.
AB 2308 would extend protective restraining orders from 10 years maximum to permanent for domestic violence convictions.

Other speakers

Leslie Carillo from the Pathway Health Clinic told about a neighbor confessing to her that she had been trafficked by her husband for 20 years. “So it happens everywhere,” she said. “And sometimes it’s a family member doing the trafficking; we just have to be aware and ask questions.” The representatives from Vista Sheriff told us if we report anything, we need to get as much info as we can like license plates etc. before reporting, because they cannot follow up on just vague suspicions. A great way to report is going to https://sdlecc.org/ and submitting an SAR (Suspicious Activity Report). There are specific forms for reporting on that website. You can also try CrimeStoppers.org

Next meeting of the Collaborative will be on Thursday, May 9, at the United Methodist Church of Vista, Address: 490 S Melrose Dr, Vista, CA 92081. All are welcome and complimentary coffee and pastries will be available. Kaye Van Nevel will notify members.

The North County San Diego Anti-Human Trafficking Collaborative is a diverse group of citizens and community organizations committed to raising awareness about human trafficking, sharing information, improving victim services, educating the public, and advocating for related policy and legislation.