Office of the District Attorney Orange County, California Todd Spitzer August 11, 2023 The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez*

- Funding to combat human sex trafficking is both inconsistent and insufficient, resulting in less participation in the OCHTTF by law enforcement agencies. Response: Agree.

- Limited budgets, training, and hiring challenges constrain local law enforcement agencies' ability to devote significant resources toward combating human sex trafficking. Response: Disagree partially. The OCDA devotes significant resources to the fully-funded Human Trafficking and Exploitation (HEAT) Unit, including DDAs, DA Investigators and paralegals. The OCDA does not have information regarding other local law enforcement agencies' funding.

- Education and prevention efforts have increased awareness of human trafficking but remain insufficient to create heightened awareness within the Orange County community. Response: Agree.

- Agencies inadequately record, track, and coordinate their data collection to effectively measure their progress toward addressing human trafficking. Response: Disagree Partially. The OCDA keeps records on a continuous basis to track the numbers for human trafficking-related charges, including the number of cases reviewed, filed, or refused as well as the results of prosecution: pleas, dismissals, trials, convictions and acquittals.

- There is no centralized, coordinated, and specialized database in Orange County that could be utilized across all affiliated agencies to track repeat victimization. Response: Agree.

- Orange County's wealth and tourist attractions make it a magnet for human sex trafficking. Response: Agree.

- Sex trafficking is an underground crime. Trafficked individuals are transient and mobile, making it difficult to discover and identify victims. Response: Agree.

- Law enforcement attitudes and methods have changed to a "victim centered trauma informed" approach, but more training is needed to identify, intervene on behalf of, and support victims. Response: Agree.

- Law enforcement agencies do not focus enough on the demand side of human sex trafficking, and punishment of the clients is minimal. Response: Disagree Partially. The OCDA prosecutes sex purchaser cases zealously. However, most sex purchaser cases are misdemeanor-level offenses and are punished according to misdemeanor sentencing laws. In terms of law enforcement focus, the term "enough" must be measured relative to the demands and resources of each local law enforcement agency's community. Human sex trafficking activity varies in concentration within each of the cities of Orange County. Therefore, it is reasonable that each law enforcement agency must distribute their resources relative to the types of crimes and other law enforcement needs that affect their local community.

- Victims and survivors need complex ongoing social service support. Response: Agree. OCGJ RECOMMENDATIONS Response to Recommendations - R4, R5, R6: