Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

I found out a few weeks ago that the Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Criminal Investigation Trafficking Enforcement Bureau was moving to Decatur. This is great news for our city because it means the main labor trafficking organization in the Illinois the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services has an office is located in Decatur, the state's only research entity focused on human trafficking is here (the Human Trafficking Research Lab), and and now the main policing entity will also be based in Decatur. ISP also recently announced that a multiagency task force is being formed to combat human trafficking in Central Illinois and will base its operations in Decatur. The Illinois Trafficking Enforcement Group, will be led by the Illinois State Police and include the Decatur Police Department and the McLean County Sheriff's Office as partnering organizations. This group was approved by the The Decatur City Council sand you can read more about it in this story from t...

Starting my month long visiting fellow residency at IOS at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies/Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (IOS) in Regensburg Germany. I will be working on our NSF funded research project on human trafficking recruitment in Ukraine during Russia's war. I am looking forward to lots of data analysis, networking, and having the opportunity to use the amazing library here. I found out they only choose 12 fellows a year so it is an honor to be here and the first time I have ever lived in the western part of Europe.