RTD launches human trafficking awareness campaign with Truckers Against Trafficking, Denver Anti-Trafficking Alliance for Youth on Transportation Safety Month

DENVER (May 6, 2025) –– The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is partnering with Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) and the Denver Anti-Trafficking Alliance (DATA) to launch a Human Trafficking Awareness campaign to provide educational resources and information to encourage customers and community members to identify and report human trafficking.

Throughout May, RTD is educating young customers, families and community members how to identify and report trafficking. Human trafficking is a serious crime that affects people worldwide, including in Colorado. It involves severe exploitation for labor or commercial sex through force, fraud or coercion. Victims may be forced to work long hours for little or no pay, and traffickers often take their identification, making it difficult to access transportation and human services. Survivors often seek to escape by bus, train or flee to a transit center. As the region’s public transit provider, RTD is uniquely positioned to help identify and disrupt trafficking.

“I value RTD’s partnerships with TAT and DATA,” says RTD General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson. “Collectively, we aim to educate employees, customers and the general public about human trafficking while sharing resources to help eliminate it in our communities.”

RTD Transit Police (RTD-PD) trains and certifies its officers to recognize, investigate and report human trafficking. RTD-PD also partners with the Denver Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The agencies work together to conduct an operation to better recognize and provide assistance to young adults who are at-risk, runaway or victimized. These law enforcement agencies will continue to work together to support combined efforts focused on preventing human trafficking.

There are several “red flags” that may indicate an individual is a victim of trafficking. Examples include individuals who are not allowed to speak for themselves, whose tickets and/or ID cards are being controlled by another person and minors who are unaware of the person they are traveling to meet or reference meeting “a friend from the internet”. Human trafficking groomers may approach individuals who look vulnerable to recruit victims. 

Customers and community members are encouraged to review resources shared on RTD’s social channels(@RideRTD) and advertisements on RTD’s buses and at stations. The agency also created a webpage dedicated to human trafficking education. RTD staff will share these resources with community members during regularly scheduled outreach activities throughout the month, which can be found on the RTD Community Calendar. Internally, RTD employees have access to additional training resources to further their understanding of trafficking and learn about the ways they can help stop it.

Customers who suspect an individual is a victim of human trafficking should contact law enforcement directly and should never confront a suspected trafficker. To report an incident in Colorado, call the Colorado Human Trafficking Hotline is 866-455-5075. The Call Center is available 24/7. The hotline can be reached via text at 720-999-9724 from noon to midnight MST.

For more information and resources, visit RTD’s Youth on Transportation Safety Month page.