Story by Jamie Browder
Chief Timothy Alexander, UMPD’s chief of police, confirmed that while student’s concerns of human traffickers being on campus are legitimate, there has been no proven activity.
Claims of traffickers began to circulate sometime last week due to a Facebook post shared by Courtney Reynolds. In the post he shared how he saw two suspicious vehicles in the Davis Hall parking lot.
Alexander confirmed that there has been a series of break-ins, but called those “crimes of opportunity” because most of the cars had been left unlocked by their owners.
Human trafficking, according to Alexander, is something that the police department is taking very seriously and are looking into all reports that are called into the department.
“I haven’t found any evidence to indicate we are experiencing that right now,” said Alexander. “However, I will tell you that the same things that we are experiencing here, other campuses are experiencing the same thing because sex trafficking is real.”
These reports have come just weeks after an Auburn student, Aniah Haley Blanchard, was reported missing. She still has not been found.
He believes that is incredibly crucial for students to continue reporting and sharing what they see on campus to police, so they have a chance to protect students however they can.
Madison Hollon, UM’s SGA vice president, shared that she hopes to spread more information about human trafficking by creating an awareness campaign.
“SGA’s goal right now is to make sure that students are better equipped with knowledge of what is going on, and also to be more prepared so they don’t put themselves in a situation that could potentially be sex trafficking,” Hollon said.
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