COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          7a 
BRIEFING ITEM                             Date of Meeting      January 22, 2019 
DATE:     January 10, 2019 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Eric Schinfeld, Sr. Manager, Federal & International Government Relations 
Chad Aldridge, Veterans Fellow, Policy and Outreach Manager 
SUBJECT:  One-year progress report on port-wide Human Trafficking Strategy implementation 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
On January 9, 2018, the Port of Seattle Commission passed a motion directing staff to finalize
and implement a Port-wide strategy to combat human trafficking. By taking that step, the
Commission increased our organization's leadership role on this important topic, for which we
not only have a moral obligation to protect residents and visitors but also a tangible role
because of our status as both a large employer and as the manager of significant trade and
travel facilities. 
We have implemented or are implementing almost all aspects of the strategy  from the 
successful  creation  of  an  internal  policy  to  ensure  all  Port  employees  understand  our
commitment to this vital equity and social justice issue, to the development of employee
training through a contract with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking. We have also
developed key partnerships with other public and private sector leaders that are allowing us to
maximize public awareness of human trafficking in our region  including the January 17, 2019, 
launch of a regional human trafficking awareness campaign. 
January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and so it is appropriate to use the
January 22 Commission meeting to both update Commissioners on our progress and successes,
as well as use the public meeting as another platform to raise public awareness. 
DETAILS 
The Port's human trafficking strategy has four main focus areas: 
1)  Training  Ensuring that all employees have access to the proper training and education
to understand both what human trafficking is and its impacts on our communities. 
2)  Communications  Using port facilities and communications channels to raise public
awareness of human trafficking and provide information to stop trafficking at our
facilities. 
3)  Policies and Protocols  Ensuring that Port policies prohibit engagement in human
trafficking, and provide clear procedures for employees to follow to report suspicion of
human trafficking and violations of these policies. 

Template revised April 12, 2018.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No.                                     Page 2 of 4 
Meeting Date: January 22, 2019 
4)  Partnerships  Leveraging relationships to reduce duplication and to maximize the
impact of our efforts, including collaborating with nonprofits; local, state and federal
agencies; and key customers and vendors. 
The following are key updates on each of these four focus areas: 
Strategy            Status          Specific Accomplishments           Next Steps 
Training             In Progress         The Port has held three           BEST will continue 
trainings for Port employees       implementing their
(including one specifically for      training strategy in
Port police), reaching over         collaboration with
200 employees                  the Port. 
The Port has contracted with     The Port Police will
Businesses Ending Slavery &       continue 
Trafficking (BEST) to develop       implementing their
and conduct trainings for our      training plan. 
employees and to create a
strategy to extend these
training opportunities to
others who work at our
facilities 
The Port Police Department
has developed and is
implementing a separate 
curriculum for all officers. 
Public Awareness   In Progress       In 2018, the Port held a press    Continue to
conference on this topic, and       expand the
posted signage at Sea-Tac          number of public
throughout January Human        and private sector
Trafficking Awareness Month.      partners
In addition, last year we            participating in
posted signage on airport          the regional
bathroom stalls sharing that        public awareness
the Port Police are a resource       campaign. 
in both sexual assault and
human trafficking incidents. 
On January 17, 2019, we
launched a regional human
trafficking awareness
campaign  including signage
throughout Port facilities  in
partnership with the City of
Template revised September 22, 2016. 
Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No.                                     Page 3 of 4 
Meeting Date: January 22, 2019 
Seattle, King County, Sound
Transit and a number of other
public and private sector
partners. 
Policies &           Completed       The Port has finalized an         The Port is
Protocols                                 Executive Policy that outlines       participating in
Port restrictions on trafficking       the U.S. 
activity, which will be shared        Department of
as part of the training               Transportation's
curriculum.                         Advisory
Committee on
Human
Trafficking's
Protocols &
Policies
Subcommittee,
which is working
on a national
recommendation
by July 2019. 
Partnerships        Yes              In addition to the                Continue to build
partnerships developed            partnerships for
through the regional               the regional
awareness campaign, the Port     human trafficking
has joined                           campaign. 
Businesses Against Slavery   Continue to build
and Trafficking's Employer      partnerships with
Alliance                           Port vendors,
King County Commercially     contractors and
Sexually Exploited              tenants to offer
Children Task Force             training to those
Washington Advisory         who work at or
Committee on Trafficking       near Port
The USDOT Advisory          facilities. 
Committee on Human      Continue to share
Trafficking Protocols &          best practices
Policies Subcommittee         with ports across
The Port hosted the 2018         the country. 
Statewide Commercially        Expand Port
Sexually Exploited Children's        activities to the
Task Force Conference at the       Northwest
Template revised September 22, 2016. 
Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No.                                     Page 4 of 4 
Meeting Date: January 22, 2019 
Sea-Tac Conference Center in      Seaport Alliance. 
October 2018. 
The Port is working with the
American Association of Port
Authorities to share human
trafficking best practices with
other ports. 
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND 
Although slavery is commonly thought to be a thing of the past, each year millions of men,
women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States.
Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to
force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will. It is
estimated that human trafficking generates billions of dollars of profit per year  second only to
drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime. 
Here in Washington state, we are not immune from the problem. Washington had the 12th
highest call volume to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2017. In King County, an
estimated 300-500 children are prostituted annually, some are as young as 11 years old; there
are over 100 websites for soliciting sex in the Seattle area, many of which are used for human
trafficking purposes. 
As both the operator of an airport and an owner of a wide array of maritime facilities, we can
help reduce the probability that our properties will be used as a transit point for traffickers and
their victims. As a major employer, we can save lives by educating our staff on the damaging
effect that exploitation and trafficking have on individual lives and families, and how it
undermines our commitment to equity and social justice. As a public sector leader, we can
collaborate with other jurisdictions, customers, vendors and partners to raise awareness of this
important issue. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1)   Presentation slides 
(2)   Human Trafficking Motion 2018-01 
(3)   Port Human Trafficking Strategy executive summary 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
January 9, 2018  The Commission passed a motion directing staff to finalize and
implement the Port's human trafficking strategy. 
July  24,  2018    The  Commission  heard  a  six-month  update  on  strategy
implementation, and extended key motion deadlines to December 31, 2019. 

Template revised September 22, 2016. 
Template revised September 22, 2016.