Q&A
Council member asks about preventing human trafficking and addressing perpetrators
2:31:02
ยท
97 sec
Council Member Yusef Salaam acknowledges the importance of victim safety but expresses concern about how to stop human trafficking and hold perpetrators accountable. He asks for specific steps or a vision to address these issues while ensuring victims feel safe.
- Salaam recognizes the challenge of making victims feel safe, citing an example of how even a well-intentioned police presence can be intimidating.
- He seeks a balanced approach that both protects victims and effectively tackles the crime of human trafficking.
Yusef Salaam
2:31:02
I mean, I I definitely appreciate your testimony as well.
2:31:05
I'm thinking about the cross section of of all that's been said today.
2:31:14
And I think the voice of the victims who have survived is really speaking, volumes.
2:31:22
To that, one of the things that I'm concerned about is how do we stop this?
2:31:27
And what I'm trying to figure out is putting those parts in place.
2:31:32
I know you said we wanna make sure that, you know, people who are victimized feel safe and I'm definitely in support of that 1000%.
2:31:42
But I also wanna make sure or I shouldn't say but.
2:31:44
In addition, I want to make sure, in fact, that this type of behavior does not go unchecked.
2:31:52
And so those individuals that are out there doing these types of things, preying on our children, or preying on the most vulnerable, What other what other, is there are there steps that you're envisioning that speak specifically to, okay, if we do this first, then we can do this other stuff?
2:32:14
Because we've heard testimony from the NYPD about, you know, sometimes victims feel extremely unsafe when there's a 6 foot 4 individual standing over them and they're just there.
2:32:26
It's not like they're trying to intimidate.
2:32:27
But to the victim it feels intimidating.
2:32:31
It feels pressuring.
2:32:32
It feels like I'm being victimized all over again.
2:32:36
I don't want to do this.
2:32:37
So that's my my question.