[music] >> One of the last minors that we contacted, that's exactly when I called her mom up in Washington. She thought her daughter was in her room. >> [music] >> And I had to explain to her, "No, I have her here sitting with me." And >> In Portland? >> In Portland, Oregon. >> [music] >> Welcome to another episode of Talking Beat. I'm Officer Bandry, one of the recruiting officers and host of Talking Beat. With me today, two wonderful people. Would you like to introduce yourself? >> Uh my name is Owen S. Roberts, sergeant of the Human Trafficking Unit. >> I'm Cheryl Waddell. I'm a detective with the Human Trafficking Unit. >> And uh yeah, you guys are here today to talk to us a little bit about your specialty unit and kind of inform some of the people who are watching this today about the unit, what you guys do, and kind of, you know, the good work that happens maybe an area that they might want to get into get into when they join the Police Bureau. So, uh Sergeant Roberts, would you like to tell us a little bit like how you kind of got here, like a little bit of your backstory, and then we'll go from there? >> Yeah. Uh so, I started out in 2011 working corrections with the Department of Corrections, Oregon Department of Corrections, working at Snake River uh while going through the background process, which um for those of you who remember recession back then, it took a while to get hired on. And so, uh started doing that in 2012, 12 rolled around, they called me, and here I am now. I've been with the bureau for over 13 years. And um love what I do. So, this is a wonderful, wonderful job. >> Local not local? >> Uh grew up well, not local. Um uh was born in Haiti, and uh but grew up in Oregon. So, all intents and purposes, I'm an Oregonian. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Nice. Cheryl? >> Um well, don't hate me, people, but I'm from SoCal. >> [laughter] >> You and a lot of other people, so. >> know. But I got here in '92. Um, I came after college. Uh, I got my degree in criminal justice. Always wanted to do investigations. Um, and applied after working um, non-sworn positions in the criminal justice uh, field. Um, I was actually working at non-sworn for the Multnomah County in the jail. I was taking pictures. And back then, um, the inmates roamed around us. And I became um, it it didn't feel scary to me anymore. And I've seen cops come in to turn in that Portland Police people. I'm like, I could do that. So, I put my name in for it and um, I promoted as soon as I could. So, I've been a detective for 22 of my 27 years. >> Nice. How'd you guys both kind of get involved with the human trafficking unit? >> Uh, for me, um, I did missions as soon as I could. Uh, I think I started doing missions back in 20 eight, 17, 18. Working when it was the uh, PCT and then um, I can't remember what the other name was that they went under, but we did hotel missions. We did um, street missions and I got hooked, right? And I realized the importance of the team and what the mission was in terms of what we're trying to do and regarding to helping um, victims of trafficking. And so, um, when the position came open in 2024, uh, I immediately knew that's what I wanted to be. Like just again, just to help one my co-workers, but also help the victims that are out there to get escape the life of trafficking. >> Nice. Uh, mine goes back farther than that. >> [laughter] >> I I was promoted in 2004. And the first five years of my career I was sex crimes detective. And from 2005 to 2010, there wasn't really a there wasn't a specific human trafficking and um I did um my specialty in sex crimes was all cases involving um sex offenders. And so I I became really versed in in that world. So I kind of did both of them at the same time. Um after 5 years I um changed subjects and honed my skills as a financial crimes investigator for the next 12 to 14 years. >> Okay. >> And the end of my career decided that uh I'd going to practice what I preach that we should be focusing um on the financial just following the money. >> Mhm. >> And as another way to disrupt this crime. And so I 2024 I came back to the to the detail. >> So you kind of like used two avenues that you were very interested in in policing and then kind of were able to use both of those kind of into this position that you kind of moved into. >> Absolutely. >> Well, I'll I'll kind of throw it out there then. Like some people kind of understand a general idea of what human trafficking is, but would one of you kind of explain at least on the law enforcement side and maybe on the Portland side like what we are talking about when it's in regards to human trafficking? >> Yeah, uh I think the subject of human trafficking uh when you ask somebody what that is, a lot of people think of human smuggling. Which means where someone is taken against their will and is being forced to work in the sex trade. >> Mhm. >> Human trafficking, there's two different components of it. Uh there's a sex trafficking uh which we investigate um and also labor trafficking. Okay? We also investigate that as well, but we don't see it as much. So for the sex trafficking aspect, that entails uh someone who is known to that person, whether it's through mutual contacts, they met at a uh club. >> Yeah. >> They somehow known each other and kind of befriend each other and or involved romantically and then that person then is now forced to work in the sex trade. And with that comes everything they make in terms of money, um everything uh is then given to that person who is trafficking them. Um so that's more of the things that like we look for we look for and investigate. Uh if you look at the labor trafficking aspect, it's same thing. Sometimes someone comes from overseas or they're you know, undocumented or there's some other means in terms of they get all their things taken from them like their IDs, passports and they're being forced to work out in um maybe agriculture or sometimes the massage parlor industry uh where now they're forced to being worked and they're not paid anything either. All everything they make goes to that uh labor industry or the massage parlor, the owner or whoever's operating it. >> Right. Yeah. You know, in prior podcast uh I wasn't able to ask this question, but I think an important question to ask especially for both of you since you guys have a different uh lengths of time working in this uh unit. What's like an interesting uh call or whatnot that you were able to work or a case that you were able to work and that kind of showed the good work that happens cuz this is definitely one of the few areas that it's not is an investigation. It takes time. Maybe even a long time before someone's able to get some kind of justice and the people that we deal with in this, especially the suspects, are very good at keeping out of the limelight and keeping away from us seeing them and whatnot. >> Absolutely. Several of them come to mind. Actually, uh the one that comes to mind was actually a quick one although the prosecutorial aspect of it was over a year. But the actual um stop and and recognizing um that the the gal was being trafficked was really quick. It was probably over a year ago and we were doing a mission. We had several um plainclothes officers >> [clears throat] >> um watching and a car a gal came to our attention. We had seen her and we we had figured out she was displaying the evidence that she was um being a sex worker provider on the street. And a car came and picked her up really quick. Not like we usually see where there's a negotiation and all that. And so we uh the team targeted the car and um found traffic stop. Went through a red light and so we created a traffic stop and almost immediately as soon as we got the gal out of the car, we separated the two for so they could speak freely, especially the the provider. And she almost immediately said, "I'm being trafficked." And it was like, "Whoa." And um so we uh quickly got her separated and got her sent back to her home state. Um >> Yeah, that's not normal. >> That's not. No. >> You know, I haven't worked many of these missions, but that is not like the normal situation that we get. >> No. No. Um I've had a few in the two years, but uh that that one was uh it was definitely out of the normal. And then um I went to work financially on the um on the trafficker and that's how it went. >> Of course, probably one of the most rewarding parts in those is uh taking away some of the monetary uh gains that that person has gotten off the back of somebody who's been a victim in all of this. >> Yeah, right. And and the fact that um we got the young lady back home so quickly with the helps of with the help of our um advocate and uh stakeholder partners, Safety Compass, and others. And um just to watch that work as quickly as it did, um it was incredible and it was very satisfying. Very, very satisfying. >> Well, I remember that. That was a great case. Um this is also another case Cheryl worked that was a very satisfying as well, too. This case was a callout. Uh HTU was already out working and so we responded very quickly. Uh but North Precincts went out with an assault call and come to find out um this young gal um female was said, "Hey, I've been trafficked and I'm being trafficked by this person we then had in custody at that point." Uh come to find out this gal had been trafficked since she was 12 years old. Uh parents are drug addicts and she she didn't have a stable home and so she's been out on her own since she was 12. And from the age of 12 to 16 was trafficked by one trafficker and then through various stages she's met multiple traffickers. And so um this one was a new trafficker she had met and had been trafficked for a month, 2 months at that point. And basically uh was put out on 82nd to work. Um she didn't meet her quota for that day and had a date which wasn't completed and so trafficker got mad and assaulted her, punched her in the face. And so we got called out due to the assault and same thing um this gal was very cooperative, wanted to come forward and say, "Yep, this is what's going on." Um Detective Waddell and other officers in HTU took over that case and um we were able to get it uh resolved in which um the trafficker is now serving time in prison um for some of that aspect of that case. So very satisfying in the in the sense of we were able to help someone that day and they were we were where they were able to come forward and and talk about it. >> But I would be remiss if I don't say that's not the norm. Like I like right? There's a lot a lot of cases that we have on our on our caseload that were just waiting for the victims to come forward so we could proceed to bring people to justice. >> Meaning so like you've got traffickers that you're looking at and you're just waiting for like an individual that they might either be trafficking or something like that to kind of come forward to be the first kind of cog in that wheel to move down the line kind of thing? >> Well, sort of. So we let's say we did have a person who already contacting like a provider already contacting we already kind of build the case and then somehow whether it's through fear fear of retaliation [snorts] fear of the next step >> [clears throat] >> they kind of fall away and so that means we're not able to proceed with with the case and so with that sometimes you know, it takes years for victims to come forward to talk about exactly what happened to them. Again, there's a fear of retaliation. There's a fear what is the next step? If I say something what can happen to me even if the trafficker goes to prison sometimes they have friends they have family members that can retaliate against them or sometimes they have family members in which they're in fear for right? Cuz some of the tactics that traffickers use is they use the the fear tactic. Hey, if you do this, I'm going to do this to your family. I'm going to do this to you. If they have kids this to your kids and so therefore it prevents a lot of people from coming forward. >> Yeah, [snorts] I think you alluded to it here but I think it's important to kind of hit on the hit the nail on the head here is like you know, there's I think you know, in all these situations you talk about the law enforcement aspect to it but there's a whole background team that you got that's helping you guys out. You know, you got advocates. You've got other organizations that you work with to kind of not only just catch the bad guy but make the victim whole again. What What are some of those things, you know, for the people who aren't as aware of like some of the resources that we have in this unit to kind of, you know, I think most people think that a lot of law enforcement agencies are just there strictly to catch the bad guy, lock them up, and then that's it. But, we try and look at it more as a holistic kind of situation and kind of do the full wrap-around as much as we can. Uh what are some of those things? >> I mean, you you hit it right in the head. Um we as law enforcement can't do it alone. Uh it's just impossible. We do not have enough manpower, and we do not know everything and have all the resources available to help a victim in those situations. And so, therefore, we work We have internal advocates we work with through victim services, and we work with uh outside advocates in Safety Compass that uh comes along and have that ability to provide a lot of different things that we aren't able to provide. Uh they're able to provide shelter. They're uh able to provide job trainings. They're able to provide uh other services that we as the police officers can't provide. Uh we also been working recently with uh Providence Safe Center as well, too, which is uh which they provide uh the medical aspect of it. They do uh free health screenings, uh uh pregnancy checks, STD checks, and other uh medical services they provide. Uh cuz some of these victims are not getting checked regularly. They're not going to hospitals and getting checked, and so they provide those resources to help the victims out. And so, we uh we work a lot with partners just to again just to provide the holistic approach, and it's not just law enforcement uh looking to for prosecuting and kind of ending the case, but we're looking for the long-term um health and uh safety for the individuals. >> Yeah. No, that's good. And, you know, I think that's an important aspect in all of this. I think, you know, with this bureau specifically, like that's one of the areas that we like to touch on the most. You know, there's a lot of resources that we have outside of like the law enforcement aspects that we like to connect people with. And the fact that, you know, your guys' team is doing that is just a testament to the work that you're doing, the work that people maybe want to get into. Is that it's not just the investigation and everything like that. It's like getting true justice for everyone involved here, which is like an awesome thing to like get done. Um I do want to like you know, praise you guys a little bit here. Not too long ago, uh something came out about six people that you helped out. Do you guys want to touch about that a little bit? Some kind of big story to some regard? >> Yeah. Uh I mean, just to again, I just want to say it's not just the work of the human trafficking unit. I also want to give patrol uh their share as well, too, cuz I know sometimes uh I equate patrol to like an office line. Uh sometimes they don't get the credit they deserve, even though they're the one kind of uh taking the charge and leading a lot of this work as well. Um so, want to make sure, you know, to give East Precinct and North Precinct their credit cuz they've been involved in a lot of this as well. Um but in the last 3 weeks, uh we've rescued uh six juveniles. Um that's been on 82nd Avenue. >> Mhm. >> Uh which has been a huge uptick uh for the amount of juveniles seen at this time. Um so, you know, just again, credit my team, but also credit the precincts as well, too, for being out there, being vigilant, and also seeing what's going on and uh put making a stop to it. >> Nice. Let's kind of talk about now like the future of the human trafficking unit. Like, you know, where we kind of see it in the future and then kind of moving forward from that. Like, you know, for both of you, kind of in different roles in this unit, like, where would you like to see the human trafficking unit in like, you know, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and so on? You know, it's unfortunately probably not going away. People getting trafficked is not going away anytime soon. But the people that we can help out, we're getting better and better at it. Especially from the way that you all are kind of talking about, like where would you like to see the human trafficking unit in the future? >> I I'd like to see more education for the young people because I speak to these young ladies, uh the underage ones. I always say to them, like, how did you even think to do this? >> Yeah. >> And I don't know how many I'd say most of them say, "Well, it's on social media." Oh, I saw it I can make a lot of fast money, you know. People want to make kids want to make fast money. They want to, you know, the hustle is glorified. >> Yeah. >> And something that we didn't probably didn't have enough time to touch on here, but that when traffickers uh hone in on and um vulnerable people. Um it's it's not a like a one and done. And it's not like the Hunchback of Notre Dame came by and you could actually see the monster coming. They disguise it. I mean, there's a reason why the elements of force, fraud, and coercion. Because they disguise it as I'm someone that cares for you. I understand you. And so, they'll groom them for time. There's a reason why these gals when we meet them say, "Oh, my boyfriend." Well, number one, it legitimizes it. Number two, kind of hides it. But, I know exactly what they're saying. But, number two is they sincerely believe that this person loves and cares for them. >> Yeah. >> Although nothing they do has anything to do with love and caring. So, what I'd like, you know, young people to understand is that um I know I remember being young and you We all thought we knew everything, right? And so, um [snorts] that there's some people out there that are very tricky and they're going to use their lived experience to take advantage of you. And things aren't always what they seem. So, um I know the sergeant did some speaking today to um um the high school and so was sending that message, but this goes out to a larger group. >> Yeah. >> And so, and I'd like parents to if they're listening to us and grandparents to realize that the you really need to pay attention to what your kids doing on their phones and don't just let them sit in their room for hours and don't know what they're doing. Um one of the last minors that we contacted that's exactly when I called her mom up in Washington, she thought her daughter was in her room. And I had to explain to her, "No, I have her here sitting with me." And >> In Portland? >> In Portland, Oregon. Believe me, she was very, very upset. Um Anyway, um there's just so much more to it. Um and then I wanted to convey that since I've been to the bureau for 27 years and a detective for so long, I worked in the bureau before we had all these resources that this agency has been able to develop and bring together under um our chief um Bob Day and um because I remember when I was a detective and a new detective, and he was my commander. So, he's been here the entire time, too. >> Yeah. >> And I remember doing human trafficking cases and I didn't have any advocates to help me. I didn't have anyone to talk to the kid. And I'm trying to work a case and I'm trying to support her emotionally and find a place for her to live and it's too much for one person. I can say that. Um and it's so much better now that we have the partnerships that we have. And um especially Safety Compass and our inside part um advocates um the lived experience partners really bring a lot of legitimacy and they can speak directly to my um uh to my survivors in a way that I can't. I want to, but I can't. I'm just as empathetic, but uh I just don't have the creds, as the kids say, right? So, if anybody wants to join the police bureau and you like uh you can do delayed gratification and you like to disrupt criminal activity and you can't really cuz I can't say I got to put all the bad guys in jail. I want to, but after 27 years I can't do that. So, I have to get my wins where I can. So, if you like delayed gratification and you can do the long haul, then a detective work is for you. >> Yeah. Uh I'll say for me uh where I see the unit going, um I think my job is what I see it now is a lot of the education aspect. Um like I told you earlier, if you ask somebody what is human trafficking, they can't pinpoint it. They can't exactly say what it is. And I want to make sure everyone knows what it is uh and that it could happen to anybody. Um you'll hear stories of uh people who grew up in um you know, fortunate home. They have a lot of money. Um it could happen to kids obviously who are vulnerable, maybe don't have housing, um maybe grew up in low-income housing, right? It could happen to everybody and I just want to make sure people are aware of that and people are aware of what the signs are. And like Sheryl says, parents, please be involved. Uh please know that what your kids are doing and what they're into uh because social media is glorifying it. Movies, TVs, everything's glorifying sex work and glorifying uh being a trafficker. And so, I just want people to be aware of that and parents to be aware of that and to let people know, especially young kids as well, too, if you are ever in a situation where you don't feel safe or you feel like uh especially regards to sex torsion where someone has a video of you doing something that maybe is inappropriate and you're afraid that that's going to get out, >> Yeah. >> get ahead of it. Just talk to somebody. Talk to your parents. Talk to a teacher. Talk to law enforcement. Um the embarrassment and shame that might come out of it in the beginning is far less than what's going to come afterwards when you are getting deeper in terms of what could happen cuz we've seen a lot of these victims that involved in trafficking said, hey, I was involved in this little part and now it grew and turned into something else. And so I just want to make sure people know to get ahead of it. It's going to be embarrassing. It's going to be uncomfortable, but it's going to be far less than what it could be if you continue to let it go on. >> Well, they don't need to be embarrassed speaking to us. I mean, I have heard plenty of stories and there's [clears throat] there's no judgment here. Absolutely not. I just need to get the details so that I can put a case together and I may ask some what seems to be embarrassing details, but what I'm trying to do is get ahead of if it ever goes to court to get ahead of the defense. So they never even have to ask my person that because I've already diffused that bomb. I've already taken care of it. And so we take care of it in private and absolutely no judgment with me whatsoever. Absolutely I just can't say that enough. And I you know, man or woman, boys or girls, I absolutely they can talk to us um and I I just I think nothing of it. You just tell me what you want to tell me and I'm just glad they're here talking to me. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, I'm glad you guys were able to share all of that stuff. You know, this is a recruitment podcast, but one of the things I [snorts] try and do as well as just like you know, have the narrative like what what we actually do here. It's important not just for the people that want to become police officers, but everyone that watches this kind of thing to kind of get a glimpse into these specialty units. But to the people that want to join the Portland Police Bureau, which I hope you guys do. Um what is something that you would look for in a good candidate to join the human trafficking unit because I think some of the people that are going to watch this are like this is something I've always wanted to do. In fact, I knew people in college that said they wanted to get into human trafficking like advocacy work or into the law enforcement end of it like both of you. And kind of help out. Like, what's some good skills that you would say you look for for those kind of people? >> Uh I'll say for me, um hard working. It is one of the key aspect I'm looking for. What is your work ethic looks like? Cuz again, this type of job is again, we have six people total doing this, two detectives and four officers. Uh which means there's a lot of cases to go around. And so, um what I'm looking for is I'm looking for uh people who are one organized, two, who are able to prioritize, and three, that are hard working and dedicated to the cause and what we're trying to do here. Um again, like we talked about through the through the entirety of this podcast is uh there's a lot of victims and there's a lot of work to go around. And so, those are the three things I'd probably say looking forward to. >> Uh yeah, I like people that are hard chargers. Uh they don't get um discouraged easily, self-motivated, um and they think outside of the box. So, you know, when I come to when I came to the the human trafficking, um I'm [clears throat] always trying to educate my other um team members on the financial aspects of it. >> Mhm. >> And so, I see things um in um in in the case that they don't and just because I'm I'm always thinking of financials and how to go down that road. And so, I'm passing that along to them. So, in my entire detective career, if I got stuck or felt like my the case had a stalemate, I just had to look at it from a another angle. >> Yeah. >> And it always worked out. If you look at it from another angle. So, if you're somebody that likes puzzles and you like to look at things from like the 30,000-ft view and you like talking to people, well, I think you'd be a good detective and I think you'd be a good fit for the Portland Police Bureau. We are the largest agency in the state of Oregon. We still have the most diverse areas to specialize in and it's just a great career path. >> Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, you're talking up all the points that I need to talk up. So, maybe maybe the next part you're going into is recruiting. >> [laughter] >> Maybe. >> Yeah, so yeah, I think at this point it's kind of like the last thoughts. Like, you know, what what is something that you want to say either to people that are going to get recruited or people that are going to see this that you haven't kind of mentioned already. Any kind of future things that you, you know, can talk about or willing to talk about. You know, those kind of things. Like, what's something that you just want to tell people right now? >> I love the Portland Police Bureau. I love the people mostly. It's not a thing, it's the people, right? So, the people are the organization and so I love this bureau. That's why I've spent 27 years of my life dedicated to getting justice for the people of Portland and the Pacific Northwest cuz my cases just don't end right here in Portland. I've had cases that went nationwide. Um and if if you have service in your heart, I mean, truly have service in your heart to to want to help people and it doesn't always have to be putting handcuffs on somebody. Some of the more rewarding memories that I have are just helping people or just being there at the right time. I remember we were at um when the Susan Coleman run used to come here this woman was staying there and she got so upset that people were talking over the names and she just started screaming and I was just standing there and she just turned around and she just fell in my arms. And so I just held her while she sobbed. I I didn't do anything. I didn't say anything. I mean I couldn't make the people stop but it made her feel better. >> Yeah. >> Right? I have some other stories like that um but I don't want to get all blubbery so >> [laughter] >> That'll be for the next time. >> That's right. That's right. >> Um I mean honestly truly I've only been here for 13 years I'm like 27. >> Only 13 >> Only 13. Uh I could say this is one of the most rewarding jobs careers I've been a part of. I love this job. I love this career and I think if you truly want a career where it's going to be cliche for a little bit where you care about helping people and you love making a difference this is the job for you. Um you will come across different scenarios situations in your life where like Cheryl says yes sometimes it feels great putting handcuffs on somebody and you feel like you served justice that way but you'll come across a lot of different areas and a lot of different aspects where you're just there for somebody else where they had a horrible day and you just happened to make them feel better. Maybe no one went to jail that night but you were able to find them housing you were able to find them something that you problem solved for them that day to solve their and alleviate some of the stress and pain that they were having. Um so um this is a great great career and if you're truly interested in helping people I think this is the job for you. >> Well thank you both for joining me today and talking to myself and everyone that's watching a little bit about the human trafficking unit. Like I said it's a unit that I've always had a huge passion for you know I've tried to work a lot of missions with you guys and you know, help out as much as I can and you know, whenever I can basically and I'm just glad that we were able to kind of maybe not demystify but like inform people a little bit of what the unit is and hopefully like encourage people that want to get into this line of work that there are units outside of just patrol or you know, ideas that they had that there's other areas to go into and for the people that are interested kind of some of the things that we are able to provide. >> Right. >> So, thank you guys so much. >> thank you. >> Thank you for having me. >> Well, thank you all for watching. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Talking Beat. I'm Officer Badry. Don't forget to visit our website www.joinportlandpolice.com and join the best. Have a good one. >> Hello.