SEAT TONIGHT.
WE’RE FOCUSING ON HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS AND WHAT’S CURRENTLY BEING CONDUCTED IN THE NEW ORLEANS AREA.
WE’RE NOW JOINED BY JERRY.
MILES IS A SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS HERE IN NEW ORLEANS.
GOOD TO SEE YOU GOOD TO SEE YOU KERMIT.
YEAH, THANK YOU FOR COMING.
SO FIRST FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER THE FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IS HERE WORKING WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DURING MARDI GRAS
TALK ABOUT WHAT GOES INTO THAT AND AND HOW HOW HOW DOES THAT GET DETERMINED?
OKAY, SO I GUESS WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT IS THE SEER RATING THAT WAS GIVEN TO MARDI GRAS THIS YEAR.
SO SEER IS A SPECIAL EVENT ASSESSMENT RATING THAT’S GIVEN BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR SPECIAL EVENTS THAT OCCUR AROUND THE UNITED STATES.
THERE’S PROBABLY AROUND 28,000 SPECIAL EVENTS THAT GO UP FOR A SEER RATING AND OUT OF THOSE 28,000.
THERE’S ABOUT 19 THIS YEAR.
THEY GOT READY TO AS A SERE TO OR HIRE A C OR TWO OR HIGHER GIVES YOU A FEDERAL COORDINATION TEAM, WHICH IS A TEAM OF FEDERAL PEOPLE THAT WORK WITHIN THE DIFFERENT ENTITIES WITHIN
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY THAT SERVED TO COORDINATE OUR FACILITATE ASSISTANCE TO THE CITY THAT’S HOSTING THIS YEAR EVENT IN THIS CASE.
GROANS.
YEAH, SO WHEN YOU SAY SEE HERE, THIS IS THE SAME LEVEL AS LIKE A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LIKE A COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OR SUPER BOWL.
ALMOST SUPER BOWL WOULD BE A CR1 GENERALLY BECAUSE IT’S IT’S JUST A LITTLE HIGHER LEVEL, BUT THIS THE COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR WAS A SEER TO SO YES, IT’S LIKE THIS YEAR TOO.
YEAH, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE JUST HOW MUCH GOES INTO THAT LEVEL OF PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ATTENDING THESE EVENTS.
YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IS IT’S A HUGE CORD.
ATION JOB FOR BOTH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND FOR THE LOCAL NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE.
THERE’S ALSO A FOCUS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATIONS AS WELL.
GIVE A LITTLE DETAIL ON WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING WITH THAT SPECIFIC.
ABSOLUTELY.
SO UNDER THE POWER OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT ARE IS OUR FOCAL POINT.
SO WE DETERMINED THIS YEAR DURING MARDI GRAS THAT WE WERE GOING TO DO FOCUSED HUMAN TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATIONS OR OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT THE AREA THE AREA BEING ORLEANS PARISH
AND THOSE PARISHES THAT TOUCH ORLEANS PARISH MAINLY BECAUSE OF MARDI GRAS WE DO IT FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, BUT I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASON IS WE UNDERSTAND THAT OUR STATE AND
LOCAL PARTNERS ARE FOCUSED A LOT ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND IT’S VERY HARD FOR THEM.
WHOLE RESOURCES TO LOOK AT HUMAN TRAFFICKING DURING THIS TIMEFRAME.
WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT LIKE ANY BIG EVENT.
IT DRAWS A LOT OF REALLY GOOD PEOPLE HERE, BUT IT ALSO DRAWS PEOPLE THAT HAVE NEFARIOUS REASONS FOR COMING.
YEAH, AND AND SO BECAUSE YOU HAVE SO MANY MORE PEOPLE IN ONE AREA THAT LEAVES MORE ROOM FOR FOUR INCIDENTS LIKE THAT TO HAPPEN.
IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE SAYING?
ABSOLUTELY WITH WITH THE INFLUX OF VISITORS HERE.
IT’S A IT’S AN ATTRACTIVE AREA FOR THAT TYPE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
GO YOU.
SO YOU’VE ALREADY ACTUALLY SEE.
SOME SUCCESS WITH IN THE LAST WEEK IT TALK ABOUT THAT.
THAT IS TRUE.
WE’VE BEEN CONDUCTING OPERATIONS ALMOST EVERY NIGHT AND OVER THE LAST.
LAST NIGHT OR THE NIGHT BEFORE LAST WE WERE ABLE TO ARREST ONE PERSON THAT WAS INVOLVED IN WHILE ARREST TWO PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED IN SEX TRAFFICKING AND RESCUE SOME MINOR VICTIMS AS
WELL.
NOW, OF COURSE, YOU PROBABLY ARE LIMITED AND GIVING THE DETAILS OF INVESTIGATIONS OR HOW THEY’RE CONDUCTED.
BUT BUT WHAT ALL GOES INTO AN INVESTIGATION LIKE THAT.
IT’S A COMPLICATED QUESTION AND I’LL DO THE BEST I CAN TO TRY TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA OF WHAT WE DO.
OBVIOUSLY THERE’S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE CAN DO TO CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS OF THIS NATURE.
OBVIOUSLY, WE CAN RELY UPON THE CITTA STREAM THAT WILL CALL IN AND SAY HEY LOOK, YOU KNOW, THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON AND IT DOESN’T LOOK RIGHT.
CAN YOU GUYS TAKE A LOOK AT IT?
THE OTHER IS WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY USES THE INTERNET WEB BOARDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO SOMETIMES WE WILL GO ON THE WEB BOARDS AND PURPORT TO BE CUSTOMER OR CLIENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
CONDUCTING UNDERCOVER ACTIVITY THAT IS ANOTHER WAY THAT WE DO IT AND THEN THE OTHER IS THAT WE JUST GATHER INTELLIGENCE FROM OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS THAT SAY HEY, LOOK WE KNOW THAT
THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY HAS OCCURRED IN THIS LOCATION IN THE PAST AND THEN WE JUST CONDUCT SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS AND START AND WORK FROM THERE TO START AN INVESTIGATION.
OUCHIE.
HE SAID IN AGENTS ARE WORKING NOT JUST THE THE MAJOR THE NEW ORLEANS CITY AREA, BUT YOU’RE ALSO NOT OUT YOUR OUTBOUND BUT NOT BOUND TO NOLA YOU MORE TOWARDS JEFFERSON ST.
TAMMANY AS WELL.
CORRECT.
THAT’S CORRECT.
WE ARE WORKING THE PARISH OF ORLEANS PARISH AND THOSE PARISHES THAT TOUCH ORLEANS PARISH.
THAT’S YOU.
SO THE TOPIC OR THE WORDS HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
IT’S SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE ARE HEARING A LOT MORE OF THESE DAYS.
AND IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT’S BECOME MORE OF A TALKING POINT THAT PEOPLE ARE BECOMING MORE AWARE OF IT, OR IS IT BECOMING MORE OF A BIGGER OF A PROBLEM?
I THINK WHETHER IT’S BECOME A BIGGER PROBLEM IS A HARD QUESTION TO ANSWER BUT WHAT I CAN SAY IS I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT IT MORE BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT AND AS
WELL AS OTHER GOVERNMENTS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE FOCUSED A LOT OF RESOURCES ON COMBATING THIS CRIME.
I THINK THOSE GOVERNMENTS HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT IT IS A SERIOUS CRIME AND BY FOCUSING THOSE RESOURCES, IT’S HELPED TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC THAT THIS IS HAPPENING AND GIVE THE PUBLIC
THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY NEED TO RECOGNIZE SOME OF THE SIGNS.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME STATISTICS IF WE CAN HOW DOES NEW ORLEANS COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO THIS TYPE OF CRIME, I WOULD SAY THAT NEW ORLEANS IS PROBABLY JUST
ABOUT LIKE ANY OTHER MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA WHEN IT COMES TO THE LEVEL OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES, OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES.-
SO THAT KIND OF AFFECTS THE NUMBER THAT’S YOU.
SO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME PRACTICAL THINGS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WATCHING AT HOME AND ALL OF THIS CAN BE KIND OF SCARY.
JUST HEARING JUST YOU AND I JUST TALKING ABOUT IT BRIEFLY.
WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICAL THINGS FOR PEOPLE TO BE MINDFUL OF WHETHER IT BE THEM SEEING SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS OR BEING AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS.
IT’S A GOOD I WOULD SAY THAT.
GENERALLY IN THAT IN THE REALM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
I THINK THE THINGS THAT NEED THE PEOPLE THAT WE APPEAL TO TO KEEP THEIR EYE OPENER PEOPLE THAT WORK IN HOSPITALS PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE THE
TENDENCY TO INTERACT WITH VICTIMS OF THIS CRIME AND THE THINGS TO LOOK FOR PEOPLE THAT DON’T SEEM TO BE FREE TO COME AND GO PEOPLE THAT SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF FOOT TRAFFIC TO
WHEREVER THEY’RE STAYING.
THOSE ARE SOME SIGNS THAT THEY NEED TO BE LOOKING FOR.
ALL RIGHT.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENCE IN THE NEW ORLEANS AREA.
MARDI GRAS KEEPING EVERYBODY SAFE WITH AND IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO TELL THE FOLKS AT HOME ON YOU KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE HERE AND WILLING TO HELP SO COULD YOU LEAVE ANY LAST WORDS
FOR THEM?
YES.
ABSOLUTELY.
I THINK THAT I WANT EVERYBODY TO HAVE A REALLY GOOD MARDI GRAS SEASON THE HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS IS HERE TO HELP THE CITY ANY WAY WE CAN AND WE WILL BE HERE TO ASSIST ANY WAY
WE CAN VERY MUCH SPECIAL AGENT JERRY MYLES.
THANK YOU