By Faith Callens, For the Tribune
CENTERPOINT — The Center Point Council renewed their annual child trafficking proclamation on Tuesday, Feb. 22 proclaiming the city as a “trafficking free zone.”
Debrah Fisher, who is a volunteer for the Child Trafficking Solutions Project received the proclamation from the city and spoke on the behalf of the CTS project.
“I would like to thank the mayor and the council of Center Point for their partnership and their fight against Human Trafficking,” said Fisher. “Trafficking free zone is very important because it brings awareness to the issue of human trafficking, and it offers training within the city so that more people know and recognize the signs of human trafficking”.
Fisher also told the council that being vigilant of the human trafficking signs could lead to more victims being set free and more prosecutions of traffickers.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline website, anyone can be vulnerable to trafficking. The people who could be vulnerable, are the ones who:
- Have an unstable living situation
- Have previously experienced other forms of violence such as sexual abuse or domestic violence
- Have run away or involved in the juvenile justice or child welfare system
- Are undocumented immigrants
- Are facing poverty or economic need
- Have a caregiver or family member who has a substance use issue
- Are addicted to drugs or alcohol
Fisher encouraged the council to speak to the schools within the city including the parents of the students to make citizens more aware of the issue of Human Trafficking.
Mayor Bobby Scott agreed with Fisher’s statement and encouraged residents to help the city raise its visibility to the issue and become more aware about solutions to end Human Trafficking.
In other business:
- The council approved resolution 2022-11, which authorized a travel advance for an employee from the public safety department to travel for job-related purposes.
- The council approved resolution 2022-12, which authorized a retail strategies contract to help the city bring other retail businesses within the city. The council plans to use the American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover costs of the contract.
- The council approved another resolution which authorized the solicitation of Bids for the Alabama Rebuild Project because the council has three roads they are considering fixing once enough bids come in.