PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — More than a month has passed since the NFL Draft wrapped up in Titletown, and while the event provided plenty of fun football memories for fans, we’ve now learned the results of a darker issue while the NFL Draft was in town.
Sex trafficking is a huge concern when big events like the draft take place, and Green Bay was no different.
To help combat the issue, $20,000 was spent on a Sex Trafficking Task Force to tackle the problem during the three-day event.
“I believe that our efforts were a success,” Green Bay Police Department Lt. Jason Allen said.
During the Brown County Public Safety Committee meeting Monday night, GBPD gave an update on the results from the task force’s work during the draft.
The work began with compliance checks of all 16 Green Bay massage establishments, searching for illicit parlors.
“There will be several of those massage establishments that will have their licensing reviewed, based on the outcome of this investigation,” Allen said.
According to the city of Green Bay’s Protection and Policy Committee packet, seven massage establishments received a violation — either a citation or a warning.
Allen said this information will be used by Green Bay City Council when it comes to license renewals.
The task force’s work also consisted of three human trafficking victim recoveries from inside Northeast Wisconsin, as well as the arrest of two people in the Fox Valley during a “John Sting” for prostitution.
“I felt like we did absolutely everything that we could have done. We used all of the resources that I know that are available to aid in this investigation,” Allen said.
In total, Allen said there were about 50 people involved in the investigations, including help from the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, DCI, Department of Homeland Security, Brown County Health Department and the FBI.
The human trafficking numbers were low, and Allen said it’s thanks to the hard work they did before the NFL Draft.
“All of the information that we got out through the public on the front end helped us in the long run by reducing the amount of human trafficking that took place during the draft,” he said.
The massage establishments, recommended for denial of their licenses, are expected to be discussed at next week’s Green Bay City Council meeting.
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