BELLVILLE — The Bellville Police Department hosted a Stop Human Trafficking training class on Oct. 26 at its new facility in Bellville. Bellville Chief of Police Jason Smalley introduced the guest speaker. The class was led by State of Texas Assistant District Attorney Brody Burke.
Burke has over 15 years of experience as an ADA, criminal justice policy advisor to the governor, Chief of Staff to Commissioner Bobby Janecka and now as assistant Attorney General prosecuting hu- man trafficking.
Training centered on identifying
what human trafficking is, some things to look for in human traffick ing and where juveniles frequent on websites that are ripe for traffickers to recruit from. Human trafficking is the exploitation of men, women and children for forced labor or sex by a third party for profit or gain. It happens in your neighborhood.
January 2024 is Human Traffick ing Awareness Month. For more in- formation about human trafficking, visit texasattorneygeneral.gov/initiatives/ human-trafficking. If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.
