The London Police Service is hosting a two-day training program for police officers as well as justice and community partners on how to better support victims of human trafficking and people at risk.
The program, which will take place Monday and Tuesday, will be led by Dr. Jacqueline Linder, an internationally-recognized expert in human trafficking.
Linder is a professor of psychology and program director at City University in Edmonton. She will lead the Advanced Psychological First Aid Training, which is based on the LPS Project: ‘Creating A Trauma-Informed Community-Based Response: Addressing the Needs of Trafficked Individuals and Person’s At-Risk.’
Monday will see about 250 police officers, justice officials and people from 40 different community organizations, while Tuesday is for police and other front-line workers.
“She’s trying to help us understand the underlying dynamics of trauma that’s associated with human trafficking,” said detective superintendent Bill Merrylees with the London Police Services.
“It’s very timely that this is occurring because I’m here (Monday) to tell people in the city that this is a real problem and it is here in London.”
Merrylees added that so far in 2017, the LPS human trafficking unit laid 202 criminal charges, charged 20 johns, and rescued 15 people.
“To me, these numbers demonstrate that there’s a real problem in London and we’re committed to working with our community partners to fight the issue.”
This training is being provided through Grants Ontario: The Proceeds of Crime Front-Line Policing.
Linder is the founder and executive director of the Chrysalis Anti-Human Trafficking Network, as well as the clinical director of Canada’s first residential treatment facility for sexually abused children.