Watching your favorite movies abroad? Don’t forget to get your Aeroshield smart DNS to access any geo-restricted content.
It is not too often in the world of true crime that you get great news that you can just be content about. But in this case, we can — because Polk County (FL) Sheriff Grady Judd, his team, and every single officer who worked on this multi-department operation made it possible.
For those who know, the colorful Sheriff Judd minces no words, and his press conferences tend to attract quite a few pairs of curious eyes. He is not without his critics; a dive into Reddit and you’ll find plenty of Polk County denizens who are not satisfied with the police force. But, all things considered, this success is one to be fully embraced.
Operation March Sadness is an extensive undercover collective endeavor that resulted in a whopping number of arrests connected with criminal human trafficking activities.
The arrests, the potential victims, and a questionable political take
There were a total of 228 arrests. During the conference, Sheriff Judd cited, “66 prostitutes, 50 johns, and 12 others,” 42 of whom were from Polk County – which is inexcusable to Judd, he said, since he has given, time and again, people of his County the incentive to not break the law. Forty-two is also the sum total of people arrested who had spouses – Judd even offered some quotes from a few of the wives.
In this particular round-up of Operation March Sadness – there were others before – “13 potential victims of human trafficking were identified.” In addition, in one single year, a total of 58 potential victims of human trafficking were identified, which is the best yearly record yet for Polk County Police.
Among the “johns” arrested there were (allow me to summarize): One commercial flight pilot, a math teacher, a golf pro who dealt with stolen property, a married volleyball tutor who used to coach middle school children, another coach, yet another coach who was not actually a coach, a registered nurse, a Puerto Rico-born veterinarian, a staff sergeant in the Air Force, another Air Force member, a 19-year-old who was going to join the Air Force (oddly, the only branch of the U.S. military who suffered arrests was the Air Force), a former officer and current felon who used to work for Polk County, a cocaine addict on disability payment, a plumber who was a proud member of a motorcycle gang, and two teenage brothers with a criminal history. Many of these men are – or were – married.
At this point, the press conference got extremely political, as Judd used his platform to proselytize. Judd said there were 21 immigrants — whom Judd characterized as “illegal aliens” — among the arrested, a couple of whom, according to Judd, had previous felonies on their records. Judd went on to make a bit of campaigning against some federal policies that he argues “drive illegal immigrant crime and victimization.” He also added that the non-American perpetrators who made money through human trafficking mostly operated from New York.
The Sheriff’s main point of political contention was that governmental policies are allowing immigrants “to fly free,” and that, along with a “crisis at the border,” also results in the victimization of the same people who are trying to seek asylum in the U.S. He also talked about foreign victims, girls from South America, “trying to pay off their debts,” and brought to North America illegally to be trafficked. And while it’s true that the undocumented are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, placing the blame for an exploitative sex trade solely — or even primarily — on the shoulders of immigrants may only exacerbate the plight of the trafficked; as a position paper in The International Affairs Review points out, “Restricted opportunities for legal migration create situations where there is an increase in vulnerability to trafficking and abusive migrant labor conditions. Intensified, stringent, and often abusive immigration enforcement only bolsters the power of traffickers.”
Judd then gave the floor to Jodi Domangue, Executive Director of Anti-Trafficking at One More Child, who spoke a little bit about her organization’s work, specific victims’ “path to healing,” and how they are helping 14 victims – there was a discrepancy of 1 between the number of victims as per Judd and as per Domangue – of this current Operation March Sadness. Other speakers, either related to or actively aiding in the ongoing operation, also offered a few words.
An advocate who spoke on behalf of Selah Freedom offered the non-profit’s service to others “out there who may be being victimized.” If you think this may be your case, you are encouraged to use their helpline: 1-888-8-FREE-ME
According to Judd, the next stage of the investigation is finding a Dominican woman who has been overseeing and controlling these and other strings of human trafficking.