Monterey County District Attorney's Office Honors National Human Trafficking Awareness Month with Local Efforts

SALINAS, California - Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on January 15 that as they observe National Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January, the District Attorney’s Office

is reaffirming its commitment to combat human trafficking and support survivors in the community.

Human trafficking is a grave offense that destroys lives and families, and it continues to plague

communities everywhere, including right here in Monterey County. Throughout this month, the Monterey County DA's Office is

emphasizing the need for increased vigilance, public education, and stronger partnerships to end

trafficking in all its forms. We stand in solidarity with survivors and are committed to ensuring that

traffickers face justice.

In honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the District Attorney’s Office is facilitating

a number of local efforts to bring necessary and invaluable resources to their community. These efforts

will help the local law enforcement community more successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute

human trafficking in Monterey County.

On January 6, 2025, the District Attorney’s Office in collaboration with the California Highway Patrol

(Monterey) brought retired CHP Inspector Rick Geiss to Salinas for an 8-hour law enforcement training

surrounding the identification, investigation and prosecution of sexual exploitation. Retired Inspector

Geiss worked with the California Highway Patrol for more than 20 years, the last five years he spent

investigating human trafficking as a member of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. His

time with the OCHTTF was spent participating in undercover operations aimed at rescuing victims of

sex trafficking in the Orange County area. Retired Inspector Geiss’s class included a presentation by a

human trafficking survivor, as well as Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Donna Bakich who

presented on the law, and Monterey County District Attorney Victim Advocate Kristin Peterson,

accompanied by Court Facility Support Dog Armani, who spoke about victim services.

On January 9, 2025, the District Attorney’s Office hosted Santa Ana Police Detective Sergeant Daniel

Park, who presented to local law enforcement agencies about how Santa Ana Police Department

successfully combatted human trafficking and commercial sex work on their residential streets between

2018 and 2020. Detective Sergeant Park addressed how the City of Santa Ana addressed community

concerns about prostitution affecting their residential and commercial neighborhoods, which had been

affecting their community for more than 60 years. Detective Sergeant Park shared invaluable tips and

strategies to collaborate with residents, public agencies, and advocate groups, etc. Through these

collaborative efforts and specific tasks, Sgt. Park and his team successfully addressed what had become

a quality-of-life issue for members of the Santa Ana community, as well as successfully rescued more

than 30 victims of human trafficking, removed 31 traffickers from Santa Ana, and held accountable

more than 200 commercial sex purchasers who were supporting the commercial sex trade in that area.

On January 13, 2025, the District Attorney’s Office in collaboration with the California Highway Patrol

(Monterey) brought Deputy Attorney General Tiffany Susz to Salinas to provide a 4-hour law

enforcement training focusing on the egregious issue of labor exploitation. Ms. Susz has been a

prosecutor for more than 20 years, focusing most of her career on prosecuting crimes that involve

special victims such as human trafficking. Ms. Susz’s presentation focused on teaching local law

enforcement agencies how to more successfully identify and investigate labor trafficking within

Monterey County.

If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in commercial sex work, or some other type of

labor, call 911 or reach out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.