Dear WH&LA Lodging Member:
Yesterday WH&LA was proud to be a part of a press conference organized by State Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, with State Attorney General Brad Schimmel, State Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, and State Senator Jerry Petrowski relating to the unveiling of a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign designed to help prevent the recent expansion of this criminal activity in our state. The WH&LA was asked to be a partner, along with fourteen other associations, state agencies, and social service organizations in helping to get the word out to increase awareness of this crime and to provide a toll-free number to call in the event indications of this activity are present.
Members may recall that in September of 2014 the WH&LA hosted a collaborative one-day workshop with the Dept. of Justice and special law enforcement agencies that focused on lodging properties of all sizes and locations, providing what to watch for and what to do for our front-line and management staff. We once again would like to make available the Guide to Human Trafficking Prevention for Lodging Properties that was distributed at this free workshop, so that you can make it available to your employees and managers, and consider discussing what you want them to do at your property should these indicators be present. Naturally, no one would want this criminal activity at their property, or to become known as a property where it is easy to occur, plus there are an increasing amount of children that are victims of it, so your assistance in discussing tactics at your property would be most helpful as a deterrent.
The WH&LA has committed to sending this poster out to all lodging members, for your consideration in posting in an employee area, and to consider as a topic of discussion either with individual appropriate staff or a staff meeting. We have been clear to the sponsors that there should be no expectation for this poster to be displayed in a lobby, and that our industry's focus would be on management and employee awareness, although each property will make it's own determinations.
Thank you in advance for any support you can lend to this important campaign to help stop Human Trafficking throughout Wisconsin.
