Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has announced creation of a new division of the Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) dedicated to human trafficking.
The Human Trafficking Bureau will promote public safety through proactive enforcement, specialized training, and community outreach. The bureau has already begun coordinating investigative efforts throughout the state.
The bureau will be staffed by one special agent in charge and six special DCI agents,
“Human trafficking is an insidious crime that affects victims in small and large communities, rural and urban,” said Schimel. “The DOJ Human Trafficking Bureau will be a resource to communities all across the state in the fight to stop human trafficking and to protect the victims who have been coerced and extorted into sex and labor work.”
Local and regional task forces to fight human trafficking already exist in some parts of Wisconsin, and the bureau will work with these task forces to support victims and to provide specialized training. The bureau was created through a reorganization of DCI and will not increase DCI’s budget.