Selah Freedom celebrates progress dealing with human trafficking in Manatee, Sarasota
SARASOTA -- Selah Freedom has effected drastic change in how human-trafficking victims are handled in Manatee and Sarasota counties, and its influence is expanding into the rest of the state.
The nonprofit human-trafficking victim support organization hosted an annual Take Back the City event Tuesday night at Gold Coast Distributing in Lakewood Ranch to celebrate what the group has done and talk about its plans for the future. About 200 people attended.
Selah Freedom, founded by CEO Elizabeth Fisher, started by giving survivors a place to stay and recover, soon expanding into a long-term residential home meant to help survivors transition into a normal life. Then, group officials began exploring prevention and law enforcement programs.
One program is Turn Your Life Around, a specialized court for individuals charged with prostitution. TYLA is similar to drug court, using targeted requirements for participants to be held accountable for their actions but ensuring they get treatment and the help needed to leave the life of prostitution.
Ed Brodsky, state attorney for the 12th Judicial District, said TYLA has done much more for addressing prostitution in Sarasota and
Manatee than any previous efforts. He said they tried identifying so-called Johns, doing multiple stings and ramping up efforts over the years, but typically women would do brief stints in jail, bond out and go right back to the streets.
"Offering them help and treatment and a loving hand is a better way and more holistic approach to providing treatment and preventing them from turning back to that lifestyle," Brodsky said.
TYLA originated in Sarasota County and now is making its way into Manatee County, according to Maj. Connie Shingledecker of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Law enforcement has also changed how they handle prostitutes.
Deputy Chief Pat Robinson of the Sarasota Police Department joked that Kindsey Pentecost, vice president of Selah, came into the station and told him they were handling it all wrong.
Eventually, he said he realized she was right. Instead of using other tools to work with the women, they were just using a "hammer."
"When we handle calls in law enforcement, we're very, very good at inputs and outputs. Unfortunately, we do not do a very good job in capturing outcomes," Robinson said. "And outcomes are what TYLA is all about because we can't arrest our way out of this problem."
After one operation where Sarasota's officers handled the involved women differently, Robinson said the difference was immediate, and the women were willing to work with the officers on tips to catch people involved in more serious crimes.
"We always hear: 'Well, why aren't you guys worried about the big criminals, the violent criminals?'" Robinson said. "Well, the folks that are running these girls and are trapping them into human trafficking, they are the violent criminals. ... They are the ones killing people out on our streets."
Selah and the Sarasota Police Department have developed a training guide for police officers dealing with human-trafficking victims.
It is being used around the state and the TYLA program was mentioned at a national conference in Washington, D.C.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office saw successes in Sarasota and started picking up training, too, according to Singledecker. In one case, a cooperative victim enabled deputies to target a large prostitution house and arrest the couple running it.
"She went into the TYLA program and, while in the program, she disclosed information that enabled us in Manatee County to get a search warrant for one of our 'spas,' which isn't really a spa," Shingledecker said. "So we were able to get in, get a search warrant to go into the spa, and realize that this is a house of prostitution. And we were able to arrest the couple that was running this spa, and their case is going through the criminal justice system."
Selah also has a representative in the Manatee County jail to speak with prostitutes and discuss their options. Shingledecker said they're talking about using student resource officers to promote more prevention classes in Manatee County schools. Most human-trafficking victims are targeted in their early teens.
Selah Freedom had famous child-abduction victim Elizabeth Smart speak in Sarasota in October and the nonprofit is opening a clothing, accessory and furniture store called Selah Vie sometime in December.
Benderson Development Co. donated a double storefront at its shopping center at the southwest corner of 34th Street West and 53rd Avenue West next to Winn-Dixie and a sorting location to Selah.
Selah has been expanding its prevention programs, recently receiving a $5,000 monthly grant from Manatee County to teach about 1,000 girls ages 12 to 17, the overwhelming target for traffickers, how to recognize warning signals.
Speakers agreed Selah Freedom had made a positive difference in how to handle human-trafficking victims, but efforts aren't anywhere near finished.
"We're making a positive difference, but we have a long way to go," Brodsky said.
Kate Irby, Herald online/political reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7055. You can follow her on Twitter @KateIrby
This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Selah Freedom celebrates progress dealing with human trafficking in Manatee, Sarasota ."