Thorn Talks Tech With Arizona Human Trafficking Council

In 2014, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer established the Arizona Human Trafficking Council to address one of the key priorities facing the state of Arizona – human trafficking. On September 10th, the Arizona Human Trafficking Council held a public meeting, to which Thorn was invited and given an opportunity to present on the new ways we’re leveraging machine-learning technology in the fight against child sex trafficking in the United States.

Confronting Child Sex Trafficking with Technology Solutions

The public meeting began with Thorn addressing the Council’s human-trafficking related concerns with a presentation on child sex trafficking. While we highlighted the staggering statistics on child sex trafficking in the United States, we also spoke about how Thorn is leveraging our technological solutions and unique partnerships on the Thorn Technology Task Force to achieve our objectives of deterrence, enforcement and protection.

We shared details about our partnership with Digital Reasoning, which is exploring new ways to leverage machine learning technology and cognitive computing in the fight against domestic minor sex trafficking in the US.

In attendance were Gil Orrantia, Director of Arizona’s Department of Homeland Security; Tim Chung, Associate Director of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety, and Sergeant Chris Bray of Phoenix Police. Presenting to these high level law enforcement officials gave us an opportunity to open up the conversation about how Thorn is helping law enforcement agencies prioritize cases and use their time as efficiently as possible. In particular, it was encouraging to connect with law enforcement folks about how Thorn’s technology will make it easier for them to identify more victims of domestic minor sex trafficking and connect them with help resources.

Joining Arizona Human Trafficking Council to Take a Stand Against Human Trafficking

The opportunity to sit in on the Arizona Human Trafficking Council gave us hope for the fight against child sex trafficking, especially when the Council discussed steps that Arizona is taking such as enhancing current responses to runaway youth and StreetlightUSA’s programs for adolescent girls.