Congratulations to Jonathan Spann, our information systems manager, and the rest of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2021 on their graduation! And a HUGE thanks to the group of leaders that partnered with the Junior League of Birmingham to combat human trafficking!
“The group formed a committee that plans a multi-prong effort to educate parents and other community members about the problem of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and how to guard against it in Hoover. They also want to provide education for school and hotel workers on how to identify victims.
The Hoover Police Department estimates that EACH WEEK, there is a new case involving the attempted exploitation or trafficking of a Hoover child. The cases span equally among middle and high schoolers but have involved children as young as EIGHT, said police Lt. Clint Blackmon, another one of this year’s Leadership Hoover graduates.
Sexual predators are preying on kids not so much by driving through neighborhoods in vans to kidnap them but by luring them in through their phones, electronic tablets and computers, Blackmon said.
“We don’t have a major sex trafficking ring going on in Hoover, but a lot of our investigations start online,” he said. “When you open up the worldwide web, you welcome the world into your home.”
Most of the time, parents find out about what’s happening after it’s too late and their children already have been victimized, but he and his fellow Leadership Hoover team members hope to reach parents beforehand so they can safeguard their children.”
Check out the full article by clicking the link below:
