Thirty Sacramento area non-profit and law enforcement organizations have joined to stop human trafficking.
The coalition is called "Sacramento Together."
The most visible part of its new campaign is a series of five messages on eight billboards in Sacramento County. They urge victims of slave labor or sex trafficking to seek help through a phone number or website.
Sacramento Police Deputy Chief Mike Bray says law enforcement needs victims and the community to report sex trafficking.
"Just two days ago, detectives -some of our detectives assigned to the FBI's Innocent Lost Task Force- were in the Bay Area recovering a young woman who had been taken from Sacramento months earlier and she had been moved from city to city and state to state. Collaboration and coordinating information is going to be key reducing crime and recovering victims."
The organizations provide many different services including mental health treatment for underage victims, and a new court diversion program for adult women arrested for sex crimes. Others focus on finding victims.
And, there's prosecution of the traffickers. The Sacramento County District Attorney's office has filed two dozen human trafficking cases in the past year.
Chris Stambaugh is with the Grace Network and says the organizations now have an easy way to connect.
"We know that resources exist in our city to help the people in each of these situations. But how do we as first responders access or find and access these resources consistently. Well, I'm happy to tell you, there's actually an app for that."
There are also business cards available with contact information for all 30 organizations.
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