Collective Liberty Receives $330,000 to Scale Data and Intel Solutions to Ending Human Trafficking

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Nov 03, 2020, 07:50 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Collective Liberty today announced its deepening relationship with agencies in the State of Texas with renewed funding for Collective Liberty's anti-trafficking solutions leveraging data and technology to empower increased prosecutions of traffickers. The funding was announced by Governor Abbott on October 16, 2020 as part of $296 million in public safety funding. (Funding is not an endorsement).

CEO Rochelle Keyhan and Faculty Detective Joseph Scaramucci train local, state, and federal enforcement in Tyler, TX, July 2020. This is the third of 5 live institutes hosted in 2020, equipping investigators and prosecutors with the skills needed to implement national best practices for supporting victims and identifying and stopping traffickers.

Collective Liberty training materials are created in collaboration with survivor leaders, subject matter experts, active law enforcement and prosecutors, and adult learning experts. These trainings guide attendees through actionable steps, and prepare them to start enacting best practices the moment they leave the final hour of training.

With initial funding from the Texas Office of the Governor in 2019, Collective Liberty trained over 700 members of law enforcement and adjacent professionals in Texas on national best practices for investigating and stopping human trafficking. These trainings contributed to the referral of over 60 cases for prosecution.

"The information from Collective Liberty has been accurate, precise, and is provided in real-time, assisting with locating possible traffickers and high-frequency buyers and repeat offenders."
--Detective, Central Texas

"It was truly a wonderful experience ... I learned so much. Your efforts will significantly enhance how I investigation human trafficking cases."
--Agent, Texas Department of Public Safety

Collective Liberty is a national nonprofit, that is recognized as the innovative leader in the field straddling the roles of a tech start-up and an advocacy group whose mission is to fight human trafficking using data and technology.

This year's funding has increased by over 60%, which will proportionately increase the level of case-building support available to law enforcement across the state. This funding will allow law enforcement agencies in Texas to access the online version of Collective Liberty's groundbreaking training and technical assistance and growing community of experts - the Forging Freedom Portal. The Portal allows officers who have received in-person training to stay connected and harness the power of machine learning to build strong cases. It also allows access to webinars, digital best practices resources, and support with shifting operations to be victim-informed and perpetrator-focused.

"We are proud of the passionate focus of Texas law enforcement agencies on supporting survivors while punishing traffickers. In our first week of this grant cycle we supported a very successful operation in Beaumont, TX where our intel contributed to the arrest of 21 men attempting to buy sex, including pedophiles looking to buy children," said Collective Liberty CEO Rochelle Keyhan.

To learn more about Collective Liberty and our fight to permanently end the systems that enable human trafficking please visit our website at www.collectiveliberty.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for the latest updates and information.

Contact:
Anastasia Anisimova
(972) 764-2704
[email protected]

SOURCE Collective Liberty