ELERTS’ See Say App Combats Human Trafficking; Wins SWTA ‘Be The Solution’ Award
March 20, 2018
Ten Leading Transit Agencies power up ELERTS’ app to receive “Human Trafficking” reports from employees and passengers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Weymouth, MA – March 20, 2018 – ELERTS Corp, the leading provider of See Something Say Something mobile apps for transportation agencies, announced that it received the ‘Be The Solution’ Award for its efforts to combat Human Trafficking in transit, at the South West Transit Association’s (SWTA) 2018 Freedom Through Transit Conference. SWTA is an association representing transit agencies in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
SWTA is passionate about bringing awareness to the crime of human trafficking and giving hope to victims, celebrating the efforts of public transportation agencies as leaders in this fight. Reporting human trafficking is the newest crime-fighting capability available in ELERTS See Say app and it has been quickly adopted. Already, transit agencies are receiving reports of Human Trafficking from passengers via their ELERTS app.
Human Trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purposes of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. It is a large problem in transportation, whether on the ground or in the air, because trains, buses and airplanes are used to transport victims to their final, dismal destinations. Catching traffickers while in transit is one of the few opportunities to do so before their victims disappear from public sight. The Department of Transportation developed the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking (TLAHT) initiative to encourage transportation and travel industry stakeholders to maximize their collective impact in combating human trafficking.
“It’s important to empower transit agency employees and riders with an easy way to report suspicious behaviors, especially those behaviors that may fall into the human trafficking category,” said Kristen Joyner, Executive Director of SWTA. “Trafficking victims are often ‘hidden in plain sight,’ and people may spot criminals transporting their victims. The public needs an easier way to report suspicious behaviors, without having to get overly involved with the authorities, and ELERTS enables transit agencies to make that happen for riders.”
With a mobile app like ELERTS See Say, transit agencies can empower people to report suspected trafficking with the push of a button on their phone. 16 leading transit agencies already use ELERTS See Say app to crowd-source safety and security concerns.
“Transportation plays a role in human trafficking and we want to deploy tools to help rescue victims as they are moved to a new destination – collectively, we can make a difference,” said Ed English, CEO of ELERTS. “The more eyes and ears keeping watch, the better. ELERTS helps riders feel safer on transit systems.”
Transit agencies that have enabled Human Trafficking reporting in their ELERTS-powered apps include:
- Atlanta MARTA
- Philadelphia SEPTA
- San Francisco BART
- Dallas DART
- Sacramento SacRT
- Boston MBTA
- Buffalo NFTA
- Jacksonville JTA
- Tri-Delta ECCTA
- Santa Clara VTA
About ELERTS
ELERTS develops best-in-class emergency communication software, empowered by community-sourced reporting of safety and security concerns with mobile phones. The company is the leading provider of See Something Say Something apps to transportation agencies. ELERTS cloud-based approach integrates smartphone technologies with video surveillance, access control and mass-notification systems to provide actionable, crowd-sourced situational awareness for first responders.
With headquarters in Weymouth, Mass., ELERTS can be reached by 877-256-1971.