Police Detective Carter Staaf on “Human Trafficking: The Issue, Victim, Law Enforcement, and Community Solutions”
Our guest via Zoom was Det. Carter Staaf of the Eden Prairie Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, who spoke to us on the issue of sex trafficking. An Eden Prairie police officer for the last 20 years, Carter has become a proficient investigator of and speaker on sex trafficking due to his work in Eden Prairie and also on the multi-jurisdictional 494 Sex Trafficking Task Force.
Our guest via Zoom was Det. Carter Staaf of the Eden Prairie Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, who spoke to us on the issue of sex trafficking. An Eden Prairie police officer for the last 20 years, Carter has become a proficient investigator of and speaker on sex trafficking due to his work in Eden Prairie and also on the multi-jurisdictional 494 Sex Trafficking Task Force.Carter walked us through the fraud, force, and coercion that are typical attributes of sex trafficking, as well as the “grooming” that plays off the commonalities between the perpetrator (pimp) and the sex-trafficking victim, who can be female, male, or transgender. He also emphasized that sex trafficking is here in our community, and that a key to eliminating it is to reduce the demand by cracking down on pimps and sex buyers.
This is a scary subject for someone raising children, but Staaf says we can all play a part in reducing the incidence of sex trafficking. Because addiction, money issues, or insecurities among victims play such a prevalent part, we can provide outspoken and offsetting encouragement to young people, loved ones, acquaintances, and others.
You can also help by participating in the 2020 Stop the Trafficking Virtual 5K for Justice being sponsored by A.M. and Noon Rotary, but do it soon because the registration deadline is fast approaching. Your participation raises awareness and provides funding to nonprofits that work with sexually exploited youth and women. Go to www.stopthetraffickingrun.org for more information.
Announcements
- Visit the District 5950 Facebook page at 7 p.m. on June 25 to catch the installation of new District Governor Tom Gump.
- We’re in the final days of our campaign for The Rotary Foundation. Please give, as we are short of our goals of $31,000 raised and every club member contributing. Contact Roger Jorgensen for more information.
- Work is underway to prepare for new club interns. The new group will benefit from a manual prepared by this year’s group and an overlap in scheduling that will allow our veteran interns to mentor our newcomers.
- Superintendent of Schools Josh Swanson updated club members on the finish of the school year and planning for this fall, including the possibility of a “hybrid” approach that could be a mix of in-classroom and distance learning.
Spotlight on Mark Weber
We learned in his vocational that Mark Weber was raised in Detroit Lakes, Minn., attended Bemidji State University, and post-college took a reporting position with the Eden Prairie News, where he later became editor, publisher, and manager of the newspaper group to which it belonged. Mark joined Rotary in 2001. In 2013 he left journalism to start an encore career as the first full-time executive director of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation. His pride and joy are his family: wife Roma and sons Craig and Grant.