Volume 12 | Issue 7
July 2021
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Human trafficking in the news |
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Board of Directors elects three new members |
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A law enforcement officer, a transportation executive and a professional OTR (over the road) truck driver are the latest members elected to the TAT Board of Directors.
Chief Tommie J. Reese Sr., the state law enforcement coordinator for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, began his law enforcement career with the Alabama Department of Public Safety in 1985. Two years later, he joined the Demopolis Police Department as a patrolman. From 1991-2009, he served in the Marengo County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff, chief deputy sheriff and assistant sheriff. He was appointed chief of police for the City of Demopolis in early 2009. In December 2017, he was appointed as the public safety director, expanding his oversight to include both the Demopolis police and fire departments. He assumed his current position in December 2018.
He is a graduate of the distinguished FBI National Academy Session 210th Quantico, VA., and SLEDS. He has been recognized as a Certified Chief of Police by the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police and as a Certified Law Enforcement Executive by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission. He served two elected terms as the president of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police and has served as the president of the Alabama Peace Officers Association. He was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and has been serving as the Board Chairman for the Marengo County E-911 Communications System since 2011. Chief Reese has served as a deacon at the Saint Paul Baptist Church in Demopolis, Alabama for over 20 years and as the minister of music over 40 years. He continues to serve on numerous other boards and commissions.
Lou Rivieccio, Corporate Transportation president, is responsible for overseeing UPS Transportation Operations for the U.S., comprised of 125,000 employees. Prior to his current role, which he assumed this year, Rivieccio served as president of UPS Europe. There he was based in Brussels, led more than 49,000 employees and was responsible for all UPS business and operations in nearly 60 countries and territories across Europe, including small-package delivery, freight forwarding, and logistics and distribution. Europe is UPS’s largest non-U.S. region, accounting for approximately half of the company’s international revenue.
Under his leadership, the Europe Region delivered record margins and profit.
A native of New York, Rivieccio joined UPS in 1984 as a part-time employee in package operations. He then went on to hold a series of operations and management positions in North America before becoming president of UPS Europe in 2018. These included vice president of operations for UPS Canada, president of the Northern Plains District, president of the Ohio Valley District and president of the UPS East Region. As president of the UPS East Region, he provided strategic direction for approximately 175,000 employees in 26 states.
Antoine Sadler has been a transportation professional for almost 30 years. For the past 17 years, he has driven for Walmart Transportation, where he is also a member of the elite Walmart Road Team. As part of his Walmart duties, he is a driver trainer, driver mentor, a member of the safety team and is TAT certified. Additionally, Sadler is a member of the North Carolina Road Team and the North Carolina Trucking Association. Civic-minded, Sadler works with organizations including Samaritan’s Feet, schools in Cleveland County and Gaston County, City of Kings Mountain and Truckers Against Trafficking. He has been featured in several videos, including a human trafficking documentary in Texas called Be the One.
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IBTTA joining the fight against human trafficking |
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The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), the worldwide association for the owners and operators of toll facilities and the businesses that serve them, brought together a panel of experts for a webinar in June to discuss the scope of human trafficking and the specific things tolling industry professionals can do to help.
Titled Making an Impact in the Fight Against Human Trafficking, the panel presentation featured Julie Abraham, director of the Office of International Transportation and Trade, U.S. Department of Transportation; Yassmin Gramian, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; Megan Cutter, director of the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Polaris; and Kendis Paris, executive director of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT). The event was sponsored by IBTTA Women in Tolling and WTS International, whose mission is to advance transportation and the professional women in it.
During the event, participants were given the opportunity to donate to TAT, and this fundraising effort brought in $2275.
Paris commented, "When it comes to recognizing and reporting potential victims of human trafficking, toll operators can play a critical role if properly educated and equipped to do so. We applaud the IBTTA and the WTS for hosting this webinar in an effort to bring this topic to light and activate their membership."
Paris encourages all IBTTA members to train their employees with TAT’s state agency webinar and toolkit and then suggests they might want to turn their turnpike into an anti-trafficking awareness campaign, which is what TravelBoards, Inc., working with the Ohio Turnpike Commission, chose to do. Using backlit signs and digital advertising at toll signage and travel plazas, TAT graphics and information are up throughout turnpikes in the state.
"When we came across a media piece describing how the trucking industry can make a difference in both raising awareness of human trafficking and as a call to action, we contacted TAT, because of its focus on truck drivers. Truckers are the eyes and ears of our nation's highways, and the presence of toll plazas and service plazas on turnpikes presents a unique opportunity to reach tens of millions of drivers each year," explained Garry Evans of TravelBoards, Inc.
“We would love to work with any turnpike in this effort,” Paris said, “and we can co-brand the signage, just like we did in Ohio.”
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TAT delivers law enforcement training in Kansas |
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Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, details a number of case studies in TAT law enforcement training. |
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On the road again providing law enforcement trainings, TAT Deputy Director Kylla Lanier and Training Specialist and Survivor-Leader Annika Huff co-taught two four-hour trainings in Salina, Kansas in June to 35 officers from the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), one officer from the Finney County Sheriff's Office, and another from the Miami County Sheriff's Office.
Kansas has already achieved full implementation of TAT’s Iowa MVE model, but as a result of the trainings, the relationship between TAT and KHP is stronger, with troopers committing to visit truck stops and bus terminals in their area with TAT materials.
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One officer commented, “Thank you very much for your time and passion in the issues of human/sex trafficking. Like I said during one of our breaks, your team held the attention of an all-male audience of law enforcement officers, which can be hard to do some times. Well done. The information presented kept me engaged the entire time. Next thing I knew you were telling us to fill out your survey and turn them in.”
Speaking about Huff, another officer said, “I have no words … I put her at the same level as a U.S. soldier, as far as bravery and courage are concerned. I pray for continued healing. Keep fighting the good fight. Great presentation.”
Survey results showed:
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Trafficking victims can and do come from all racial and ethnic groups. In a 2011 report from the US Department of Justice analyzing data from federally funded task forces, 40 percent of sex trafficking survivors across the U.S. were Black, while Black people made up only 13.4 percent of the U.S. population.
Source: US Department of Justice
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July 2021 Calendar of Events |
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July 1 – FDP at Precision Pipeline Corporate, Eau Claire, WI, Helen Hofer, FDP director, presenting and Ashley Smith, TAT Energy Operations director, in attendance
July 8-10 –Iowa 80 Jamboree, Walcott, IA, FDP and Susan Dold, TAT systems administrator, presenting
July 13 – Northeast Virtual Truck Stop Training, Louie Greek, TAT training specialist and Annika Huff, TAT training specialist and survivor-advocate, presenting and FDP tour available
July 15 – Illinois law enforcement training (southern district), Fairview Heights, IL, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Annika Huff, TAT training specialist and survivor-advocate, presenting
July 21 – Virtual briefing on BOTL anti-human trafficking initiatives for task forces and committees, Louie Greek, TAT training specialist, presenting
July 22-23 – Florida Trucking Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, presenting
July 26 – National School Transportation Association Annual Meeting and Convention, Milwaukee, WI, Lexi Higgins, BOTL program specialist, presenting
July 27-28 – FDP at UPS New York City and New Jersey, New York City, NY and Manhattan and Secaucus, NJ, Helen Hofer, FDP director, attending
July 29 – Harriet Tubman Award presented by Protective Insurance, Omaha, NE, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, presenting
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Thank you to our copper level and above individual donors!
Diamond:
Runbeck/Mowat Fund
Platinum:
Douglas Kegler
Gold:
Jonathan and Jill Lim, Bob Paris, Andy and Karin Larsen, Diane Reed
Silver:
Scott and Terry Koch, Anna McCoy
Bronze:
Mark and Julie Mihevc, Chris Ripani, Stephanie Guindy, Amy Reitmar, Anne & Merlin Namuth
Copper:
George Cravens, Patti Gillette, Linda Burtwistle, Ken Johnson, Mike and Karen Kuykendall, Kent Marshall, Don Blake, Scott Perry, Grinnell Family, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Turner, Amber Throckmorton, Dan and Emily Dykstra, Michael Nelson, Jacqueline Daves, Nicholas and Jane Nagel, Tod Kroon
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TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING | Website
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