Attorney General Moody Launches New Training Initiative In Fight To End Human Trafficking

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) -- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is recruiting businesses to train their employees on recognizing the signs of human trafficking. Her goal is to train a hundred thousand people by the end of the year.

Florida ranks third in the nation in calls to the national Human Trafficking hotline. Only Texas and California have more.

"We need partners in the community," said Moody on Wednesday at a Tallahassee news conference announcing the new training initiative dubbed The 100 Percent Club.

"We know first-hand accounts where a trucker at a rest stop, knew the signs. was trained on the signs of human trafficking and rescued a victim, so we know this will work," said the Attorney General.

Jeff Jackson is the CEO of PGT Industries, the state's largest maker of windows and doors. He's the first business to step up and train 100 percent of his employees.

"It's an incredible blight on society, and in the US, we actually have human trafficking slavery in this economy and environment," said Jackson. He said once companies educate themselves, it will be a no brainer.

"We drove over four point three million miles last year alone. So, think about the mileage we cover and the locations we see with just that."

The Attorney General says human trafficking is the number two illegal activity in the state behind drug trafficking.

"Human traffickers are constantly looking for new angles and tactics to exploit victims and advance their illicit trade. We too must update and improve how we target and stop traffickers. I am proud to join our dedicated partners today to launch a new training initiative designed to dramatically increase the number of Floridians equipped to spot and report suspicious activity in Florida. We also are launching a new statewide tip line and providing quick-reference alert cards to Floridians to assist us in this essential fight."

The statewide tip line is 1-800-342-0820. It will be directly monitored by FDLE for calls of suspected human trafficking.

There is also a National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888.

If you want to know more or take a one hour training course, you can reach out to the Florida Coalition to End Human Trafficking  at www.FloridaAllianceEndHT.com.