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2022-2023 Orange County Grand Jury Report <br />Human Sex Trafficking in OC <br />August 14, 2023 <br />Page 2 <br />SANTA ANA CITY COUNCIL <br />Valerie Amezcua <br />Mayor <br />vamezcua@santa-ana.org <br />Jessie Lopez <br />Mayor Pro Tem, Ward 3 <br />jessielopez@santa-ana.org <br />Thai Viet Phan <br />Ward 1 <br />tphan@santa-ana.org <br />Benjamin Vazquez <br />Ward 2 <br />bvazquez@santa-ana.org <br />Phil Bacerra <br />Ward 4 <br />pbacerra@santa-ana.org <br />Johnathan Ryan Hernandez <br />Ward 5 <br />jryanhernandez@santa-ana.org <br />David Penaloza <br />Ward 6 <br />dpenaloza@santa-ana.org <br />RESPONSE TO FINDINGS <br />Finding F1: <br />Funding to combat human sex trafficking is both inconsistent and insufficient resulting in less <br />participation in the OCHTTF by law enforcement agencies. <br />Santa Ana disagrees partially with this finding. While funding is a concern, staffing levels at agencies <br />throughout the County contribute to the inconsistent and insufficient participation in the OCHTTF. Even <br />with adequate funding, including past grants, only a few Orange County agencies participate in the task <br />force. <br /> <br />Finding F2: <br />Limited budgets, training, and hiring challenges constrain local law enforcement agencies’ ability <br />to devote significant resources toward combatting human sex trafficking. <br />Santa Ana agrees with this finding. Budgets, training, and hiring differ from agency to agency throughout <br />the County. Agencies deploy their personnel according to the unique needs of their respective agencies. <br />Notwithstanding the budget, training, and hiring challenges faced by the Santa Ana Police Department, <br />Santa Ana recognizes the human trafficking crisis in Orange County, and to that end, Santa Ana has <br />dedicated a full-time detective to the task force. <br /> <br />Finding F4: <br />Education and prevention efforts have increased awareness of human trafficking but remain <br />insufficient to create heightened awareness within the Orange County community. <br />Santa Ana agrees with this finding. The OCHTTF's partnership with Santa Ana, the County, and private <br />entities has assisted in bringing awareness to the human trafficking crisis in the County. The task force has <br />traveled up and down the state providing training on the issue. Despite losing grant funding, Santa Ana <br />has committed to providing personnel to the task force. <br />Finding F5: <br />Agencies inadequately record, track, and coordinate their data collection to effectively measure <br />their progress toward addressing human trafficking. <br />Santa Ana agrees with this finding. While grant funding traditionally supported efforts to record, track, and <br />coordinate data collection effectively, these efforts have become limited without the grant. Nevertheless, <br />Santa Ana is committed to furthering these critical areas of data collection to combat human trafficking <br />through our partnership with the task force and seeking out the best tools to enhance human trafficking <br />prevention and education. <br />