Spotlight Supports Cross-Agency Collaboration in Operation Cross Country X

The FBI’s Operation Cross Country is a cross agency—and now cross border—operation that focuses on recovering underage victims of sex trafficking and raising public awareness. This year’s Operation Cross Country aided in the recovery of 82 juveniles (the youngest U.S. victim was 13 years old) and the arrest of 239 pimps.  FBI Director Comey said, “Operation Cross Country aims to shine a spotlight into the darkest corners of our society that seeks to prey on the most vulnerable of our population.”

Spotlight Lends a Hand During Operation Cross Country

When conducting a well orchestrated operation with so many agencies (400 to be exact) collaboration and efficiency are a critical part of success. That’s why Thorn launched Spotlight in October 2014, to provide a web-based tool that takes massive amounts of data and turns it into an asset for law enforcement. The aim of Spotlight is to:

• Identify victims faster and get them connected to resources.
• Decrease human trafficking investigation time.
• Improve collaboration across local, state and federal lines for human trafficking investigations.

In the days leading up to, during, and after Operation Cross Country X, Spotlight was one of the force multipliers that enabled law enforcement to quickly identify trafficked juveniles and help understand the full context of the victim’s trafficking situation.  We are pleased to assist more than 3,200 Spotlight investigators crossing more than 840 agencies, not only during Operation Cross Country X, but every day they spend looking for our kids.