Study Session - 10/24/2023 5:30:00 PM

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for those of you in the audience we're
going to be holding a study session
that's about to start anytime now but
you're welcome to stay and listen along
it's a session that we have conversation
here on the dis and have presentations
but we don't take any comments from the
public but again you're welcome to stay
and sit in your seats and observe what
we do here at the council
thanks
I'm going to go ahead and call this
meeting to order this is Council study
session for Gilbert Town Council October
24th 2023 we have one item on our agenda
presentation and discussion of
recommendations of the community
engagement task force on Focus areas
related to human and sex trafficking and
domestic violence Melanie dyra I see you
at the
podium okay thank you mayor and council
members melie Dyer the volunteering
Community Resources manager I'm also the
staff liaison to the community
engagement task force and we are here
tonight to report out on actually two
topics that they have been covering and
we have two of our members who will
actually be doing the presentation piece
of it as well as some of our support
membership is here as well um but the
one that we're going to start with is
they're going to give you some inform
information and recommendations on human
and sex trafficking that was the one of
the areas that they focused on and as
you'll hear from them that one of the
main things they wanted to express is
that the recommendations are focused
around the development of enhanced
resources education to really make sure
that there's an increased awareness of
the fact that there is sex trafficking
in the Gilbert Community and what that
looks like and how their recommendations
can help make resources more accessible
how we're really trying to make sure
that there's education in the community
as well as just general awareness so
with that um I also want to just remind
you that all of these recommendations
have some time limits where we really
want to identify if they're short-term
midterm long-term we know a lot of these
cannot be solved overnight but there is
sometimes some loow hanging fruit where
we can really kind of tackle an action
item and recommendation we also
recognize that it's not going to be Town
staff doing all of this on our own this
is something we really need to make sure
we identify who the resources in the
community we can work with who are our
partners who our collaborators are in
order to take on these recommendations
and try to move this
forward so with that I'm going to let
Chris Curley come up introduce himself
and he's going to take you through the
first um set of
recommendations good evening council
members and mayor uh my name's Chris
Curley uh I believe my group picked me
to talk about this subject based on my
background uh so for 13 years I was a
14-year-old girl I'll explain uh I have
24 years in law en ment mostly with
Phoenix PD 13 of those years I sat on
the internet crimes against children
task force it began in 2001 I was one of
the first investigators to be there uh
we were given the task after giving
Federal grant money to monitor the
internet for exploitation luring and
trafficking of
minors uh most of what you hear today is
and the recommendations we're to make
our are examples from what I saw when I
did that job for so long uh we broke
this this down into three uh sections
resources education and
awareness and you've been given a copy
of of the notes I have in front of me
but I'll just hit a few of each one that
we want to talk about that I think is
important uh under the first one in
legislative we believe this is a
long-term goal like I said it's going to
take more than just the town uh but I
wanted to to highlight the second one
there penalties against sex
crimes right now the statute in Arizona
for luring and trafficking a minor is
actually a less penalty than it is for
exploitation of a minor which we talk
about which is child
pornography uh I'm going to give you a a
term that I used many times when I talk
about this subject these crimes are
need- driven behaviors these these
individual cannot help themselves I had
an individual one time that thought he
was talking to a 14-year-old girl which
was me we met thought he was going to
meet the girl he met me instead he was
arrested put in jail given a bond got
out 2 weeks later while he's out on bond
I'm back on my computer as another
14-year-old girl and guess guess who
contacts me the same
individual we met again he was arrested
again with stronger penalties for these
types of crimes we believe this could
minimize this type of of activity with
these with these
individuals uh the second thing we want
to talk about was the uh the Gilbert
Advocacy
Center uh I know members have have
traveled uh to look at other uh council
members have traveled looked at other
advis centers we worked with the Phoenix
advoc Center we were partnered with them
it's a great idea um we had a doctor on
site that actually testified in our
cases with us um we can't say enough how
much we're excited for this ay Center so
that was just kind of something we we're
very we want to push and get through uh
we know that it does provide a safe spot
to start uh for minors and adults who
experience violence or sexual threats um
so we can't emphasize that enough how
much we're excited for that to
happen the third issue is pre-employment
uh this was an idea that came up uh from
me and the group uh when I was again
with the investigator with the IAT uh
detail we were asked by our background
uh uh group detail to come up with a set
of questions for new officers about
exploitation child pornography things
like that if they'd ever accessed
that they' never asked those questions
before because it was a new crime at
that time so we came up at these these
questions and people thought well you
know they'll just lie well you'd be
surprised if you don't ask you don't get
we were surprised how many people
admitted to what they had done in the
past uh we believe that um coming up
with a set of questions for any
individual that is going to be employed
that access that has access to children
should have a set of questions to be
asked these questions and then a
follow-up questions to whatever they say
uh unfortunately I arrested several
teachers principes police officers for
this crime so we feel something like
that is
important
the next one is
education uh under there we have
curriculum development this is also
something that I tested and know that it
works so after I left the PD for a short
time I had a
nonprofit what I did is I partnered with
an ex prosecutor that prosecuted the
crimes with me uh in Internet crimes we
developed curriculum for K through five
6 through eight in high school and
parents special curriculum for special
ages and parents our presenters were
only those individuals that served on
the iak task force from different
agencies Chandler PD Scottsdale PD uh
temp PD it was very beneficial we saw uh
we got great responses uh it was more
impactful when it came from those that
had actually done the job and could
explain what we've seen so we know that
that can be replicated again uh we have
great resources out here in Gilbert the
the officers out here that could be done
again so we want something like that
along with video video presentations and
what we mean by that is either have in
person or video presentations of past
victims some of my presentations I did
bring in past victims of trafficking and
exploitation and it was so impactful to
the parents and the children that we
were speaking with at that time so
that's another uh recommendation we
have uh under that um uh we have
training it's kind of just Falls in with
that uh First Responders more and more
training with First Responders so when
they get out to a scene they know what
to ask for they know what questions to
ask for and they can continue on with
their the case uh train with uh Faith
Community youth groups things like that
and then applications make the community
aware of the applications that are out
there there's so many there's so many
apps out there where children uh you
know access and the parents need to be
aware of those apps and there's apps
that can help parents there's something
called bark out there if people aren't
aware of bark Bark's an application
where you put it on your phone you put
it on your child's phone and it it works
off algorithms that can detect certain
phrases and words that can alert the the
parent that hey your your child may be
in danger they're speaking with this
individual uh or they're they're talking
about this subject so just another thing
to to help us
with then the last part was
awareness we need to
make the parents and children aware of
what the problems are with sex
exploitation and trafficking are in our
own City I remember one time I was
speaking with a fifth grade class and I
was talking about Stranger Danger on the
internet and in the back I heard this
child say why I live in Gilbert that
doesn't happen here and I stopped him
and I said it can happen anywhere so we
need to make these these kids and
parents aware that it can happen
anywhere at any time um we can do that
with social media posts where are the
kids at they're on social media I have
two te teenagers they're on social media
all the time we need to make it uh get
out there to the the the places where
they're at and make them aware of what's
going on um need to be be factual and
relevant when it comes to uh awareness
I'm not a sugarcoating kind of guy I
gave it to him up front I give it to him
straight uh they need to know what's
going on there's new trends out there
there's something called sex uh
exploitation now where they're um
blackmailing children for the pictures
that they have sent they think they're
sending them to someone safe and they
turn out they're sending them to a
stranger who now then turns around and
blackmail them for money kids need to be
aware of that that that's occurring
uh we need to be proactive in our in our
education proactive is my favorite word
um and we need to be
preventative and then uh the national
resources we just need to partner with
the national resources that already
exist we Gilbert has we have our own
numbers to use for information like this
but there's the national there's nickm
the national Center for missing
exploited children uh parents and
children need to be aware of that the
community needs to be aware of that that
that's the central hub for the nation of
any type of exploitation or trafficking
that occurs you call that number they
they take a report and they send it off
to the proper jurisdiction and it must
be uh reviewed and
investigated so those are the uh
recommendations on this subject that we
have right now any
questions council members any
questions
okay um council member vanon Giovani has
a question but it doesn't seem that his
mic there it goes working now Council
thank you mayor um you mentioned the
first person or one of the persons you
arrested two weeks later came out and
did it again do do you know or does any
staff know or what the um recidivism
rate is usually for
offenders I don't have a exact staff but
I can tell you that I've
arrested uh individuals multiple times
besides that one um part of the the in
the chief uh you can even speak about
this part of the sentencing for in the
state of Arizona is when you get found
guilty of one of these crimes it's it's
either it's in incarceration and then
lifetime sex offender status and
lifetime probation uh I've known many of
those I've kept in touch with uh members
of the iak force those those that knee
driven Behavior they've they've gone
again and and done it again and and
they've uh violated their probation are
back in in prison so I don't have the
exact number but I know it does
happen any other questions for Chris
seeing none Chris thank you for that
presentation thank you we appreciate it
we appreciate all the work that the that
the task force is
doing I'll turn over to
Alex you will need to lower that mic yes
I'm very tiny yes it's very true um my
name is Alex Rodriguez I am one of the
task force members I have the unique
experience of treating both victim
survivors and Defenders um so I myself
currently work for Maricopa County um I
work in the lower bucke jail I'm one of
the mental health workers I'm a licensed
therapist um I've been doing emj and
trauma therapy for about eight years
I've been a licensed therapist for about
12 um so I have a unique
perspective um okay so it's it's very
similar to what Chris had had talked
about so our goal legislation education
and awareness around domestic violence
one of the things that we have been
talking about a lot is how Co kind of
changed um awareness of domestic
violence and the numbers went up um
because a lot of people are stuck at
home with their um
perpetrators so we have resources
education and awareness um the first one
is legislative and again this is a
longterm kind of along the lines of what
Chris had had talked about so we talked
about um penalties for first-time
offenders of domestic violence jail time
um for my experience jail time doesn't
do much to curtail some of the behavior
um so an important thing um that I've
kind of talked about at length probably
at nauseum to my other um members is
partnering for getting some of these
services in Gilbert not just for the
victims but for the offenders as well um
because believe it or not people that
were trauma times as children sometimes
most times turn into offenders
themselves so maybe getting some of the
um treatments here in Gilbert um also
some of the stronger penalties for
emotional abuse and financial abuse it's
not just physical domestic violence a
lot of times it starts with emotional
abuse and can lead to um Financial abuse
and that's what keeps victims with their
perpetrators for a longer period of time
um the second kind of area that we
notice was victims rights funding Victim
Advocacy positions partnering with some
more Victim Advocacy whether it's peer
support whether it's a paid position um
supporting and encouraging longer orders
of protection also Al having someone to
maybe help walk the victim through
getting an order of protection because
it is a very very daunting experience
and a lot of times it can kind of seem
really really overwhelming um one of the
other things that we talked about was
barriers barriers to getting the right
attorneys barriers to people that are in
lower income situations um also helping
people that have disabilities to be able
to um file for some of the things that
they might
need all right education this is one of
the ones that's not quite longterm it's
not quite shortterm it's kind of in the
middle um Melanie let us know that you
guys were able to do you guys did the
iners
shoes experience too right as well all
right so one of the things we did that
as well um which I think that simulation
is really powerful we talked about they
have it for teenagers as well um and so
we were talking about really starting
young in schools and I myself am a
product of the Gilbert Public School
System um K through 12 I graduated from
Gilbert High School and I wish we would
have had something like that when I was
in high school we did not um so I think
that that was something that we talked
about parent University we also talked
about Bloom 365 which is safe dates it's
also geared towards teens because
domestic violence looks a lot different
to teenagers than it does to adults um
the other thing that we talked about was
exploring um officer trainings for
Frontline officers we've been really
lucky that we've had a lot of really
good presentations from fire and PD all
right and the last one we're going to
talk about is
awareness all right so marketing
campaign you kind of hear this
throughout we really want to do a a kind
of large scale marketing campaign
highlighting the family violence unit um
the community policing that we're doing
um information on the Gilbert Domestic
Violence Court we actually are touring
that I believe at our next meeting um
again we want to like focus on teenagers
CU we believe that that starts starts a
little bit earlier um the other thing
that we had talked about was some sort
of domestic hotline if that's available
um like some sort of QR code in bath in
like female bathrooms or anything like
that like 211 988 for mental health if
we could have some sort of number um for
domestic
violence I feel like I talked really
fast any
questions Alex you did great um any
questions for
Alex thank you for that information what
year did you graduate from Gilbert High
I don't want to share my age but
2006 my graduate my daughter graduated
in 2008 so that's why I asked because
you looked like you're about her age so
I am 25 I don't know what you're talking
about you so am I Alex so am I thank you
for your presentations you and Chris
both we really do appreciate all the
work that the task force is doing I know
that um it's not easy work it's heavy
material that you're sifting through and
you don't look like a 14-year-old girl
Chris I've known you for years
now Melanie do you have anything
anything to add yes I'm just going to
wrap it up on their behalf but again I
also would like to thank them the
domestic violence was a very very heavy
topic to get through it it we have um
members that had um experiences with
their own family so to work through
those issues and and I identify those
recommendations was really something
they worked hard at um and as Chris
mentioned you know some of the new
things regarding the trafficking we
think of trafficking in one manner but
really what we're seeing and hearing and
wanting to highlight more of is really
that sex Distortion I mean that's what
we're seeing the social media presence
we didn't have so many of those issues
until you had social media that is new
crime that has come forward because of
that product so really some of those
things that we can highlight and educate
for that's really what has to be a
parent um and as they noted some of it
we want to try to make sure that we're
meeting the you know the the where
people are and a lot of times that those
people are in the schools that's where
they are and so having any opport where
we can to help partner with the
districts and make sure that our
expertise from our police and fire and
information gets shared is certainly
something we're looking for um which
again to move the needle we again the
the goal of this group was not just to
check a box but as they come up with
these recommendation is how do we make
sure we're measuring success so we
really need to make sure we've got
Benchmark data create some smart goals
around these recommendations and make
sure we're measuring them um so just to
give you a heads up our next Focus area
is homelessness and low-income
challenges and we anticipate being able
to come back to Council in January with
those recommendations from that area
which again is a pretty big topic um so
we're looking forward to kind of diving
into that and making sure that we hear
from a lot of our stakeholders in the
community in order to get that
information as well and with that are
there any questions for me vice mayor
thank you mayor um Chris and Alex great
job um appreciate you sharing your
expertise with us today and with the
entire team and a big Shout shout out to
to the task force we are getting close
to two years that we've been meeting and
we still have a couple more topics to go
over as a reminder to the council uh
we'll be bringing back a full report at
the end with some recommendations and um
at that point we'll we'll need to take
on that information and um decide where
we're going to place additional
resources but um in the meantime I I
just wanted to mention that we really
are ahead of many of our counterparts in
the valley as far as our domestic
violence team that we have through the
police department through our
prosecutors and courts and so um I'm
also a member of the mag um Dom domestic
violence committee and they are talking
about some legislative things as well
and so we'll be sharing not only our
best practices because I heard from
other council members how they would
love to have a DV Court in their own
community and how to make sure that we
truly understand um when somebody has to
go through the system of the courts that
there's not huge gaps and they get left
behind or they feel revictimized again
and it's it's a priority I know for us
here in Gilbert and um I thank the team
for going through all of that and our
Gilbert team as well thanks mayor thanks
vice mayor and I just want to add that
the community engagement task force is
this year's May mayoral volunteer winner
for the community of excellence awards
for all of the hard work that you've
been doing and wanted to show my
appreciation for you so I can't wait to
see probably at least the chair and vice
chair maybe at the event this
year thanks Melanie thanks everybody I
see other members back there too thanks
for joining us
tonight okay we actually finished a
couple couple minutes early we have
about a 5 minute break maybe a 4 minute
break before we start student of the
month we're
adjourned
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