Stacie Sheridan, Founder of the Southwest Guardian Foundation

The Mike Broomhead Show, KTAR News, 923, and the KTAR News app. All right, as I've, we've talked here on the show very often about human trafficking, and it's one of those crimes that is so ugly, nobody wants to look at it. But once you see it, you can't unsee it. I was on Facebook the other day. And there was a post about an organization called the Southwest Guardian Foundation that was started. And it is about human trafficking awareness and doing something about this awful crime. And then I saw who was heading up the organization. We just had Sheriff Jerry Sheridan in here. His wife, Stacey Sheridan, joins us. You started this organization. I did. I did. I'm just going to say this, that you've come from a law enforcement family. Your husband is the sheriff of Maricopa County. You're doing enough. I mean, your family is doing their job in this community. Why start this foundation? I mean, you're going the extra mile here. Is it just because this is such an ugly thing? It is an very ugly thing. And what a lot of people don't realize is unlike selling drugs or selling weapons or selling anything that you can actually grab.

A person can be sold. over and over and over again. They might be sold 10, 20, 30, 50 times a night. So it's a resource that never goes away, and it's good money. Let's face it, sex sells. None of us are naive to that. What I would like to do, after writing with Phoenix PD's Heat Team, Mike, which they're wonderful. And leaving that night after seeing these victims, and let's be honest, these are victims, nobody's little girl grows up and says, you know what, when I grow up, I think I want to be a prostitute. Nobody says that. So these are victims. Let's set that straight for the public, okay? The traffickers and the Johns are who we need to go after. And my goal is to make Arizona one of the most hostile places for traffickers and Johns. And I'm so proud of the Arizona legislature and what they've recently done with the passing of the bill that makes... The buying of sex, a class six felony on the first offense. No longer is buying sex a misdemeanor. The old adage that this is a victimless crime. I roll my eyes every time I hear it because like you, the first time I saw this in action, when I saw these victims, when they finally are separated from the person, the trafficker, whatever you want to call them, pimp trafficker, that when they can let their guard down a little bit, their entire world is consumed by these individuals. They are absolutely controlled by these individuals and they feel as if their life is over if they're separated. But once they are and they start to talk about their lives and how they got. from where they were to where they are. It is heartbreaking to see what they endure and the life of fear that they live. It is not a victimless crime. No, it is not a victimless crime. They are victims, but even going beyond that, Mike, um, The health care system is a victim in this because they end up treating these girls and it ends up being on the taxpayer's dime. So that's another thing that the foundation can do is we can get these girls health care, which a lot of them go without. Some of them have a lot of issues wrong with them because of that. Their families are victims.

A lot of times their families don't know where they are. Sometimes they do. This is a problem that is hidden in plain sight. There was a bunch of stories that have been done recently about the foster care system and about some of these group homes. And East Valley group homes, there's a boys' home and a girl's home right across the street from each other. And the number of these children that run away from these group homes. And the girls, and there is a direct line for many of these girls from these group homes that they find them. at the blade, 27th Avenue, between Indian school and Glendale, that that is where the traffickers are praying where most people would say, I see a young girl. off on the side of the road with a flat tire or I see a young girl that's stranded or by herself, oh my gosh, is there something I can do to help her? There's an element of our society that sees that as an opportunity. And that's what's happening to these girls. Yes, it is. The internet is the number one recruitment tool. And I have said this for a long time. As fun as social media has been for a lot of us to reconnect with high school friends and all of that, it's also been a tool to create situations like this. On average, it takes a trafficker. This is how good. They are master manipulators. And on average, they can groom and have a victim in their control in less than 30 days. So it's very quick. You take someone that is young and is not necessarily come from a difficult home situation. And. Someone tells them I'm going to take care of you. Someone tells them I love you. Someone tells them what they need to hear and want to hear. And before they know it, they're in a situation that they literally cannot get themselves out of. True. The other thing that I would like to point out is a lot of the general public thinks that traffic victims are kidnapped off the street and pulled into this. And I've been to quite a few trainings now. It was amazing and just mind-boggling to me to learn most of the time the victims know their traffickers. Not always, okay? Those being kidnapped off the street and forced into this. That does happen. I'm not saying that doesn't. But I was blown away at how many times.

Families are trafficking their own children, their own sisters, their cousins, their nieces, their nephews. It truly blew my mind. The organization is called Southwest Guardian Foundation. Can you tell us two things? One is what are the goals? What's the goal of the foundation? And then how can the public help? The goal of the foundation is... Trafficking and the investigation into trafficking is very complicated. It's very time-consuming. It's not something. It involves surveillance. It involves deep investigations that don't fit neat and tidy into an eight-hour shift. So part of the goal of the foundation is to raise money. We are a nonprofit, so anybody's donations are 100% tax deductible, is to create, law enforcement agencies have their budgets. And nobody in control wants anybody going over their budget. Right. So what we can do for overtime, for specialized equipment, for training, we can gap. We can create a band-aid or whatever you want to call it over that gap and provide that necessary funding to keep task force up and running. Ultimately, what we would like to see, and I'll use Maricopa County as an example. We have 31 separate law enforcement agencies here in Maricopa County alone, including tribal and all that. They all have task forces. It's kind of redundant when I really got to thinking about it. So if we could create one statewide task force where every law enforcement agency in the state of Arizona worked together somehow, and we could really make an impact. It would just make such a difference. Every state has a joint terrorism task force. It would be a human trafficking task force. Exactly. Dedicated 100% of the time to human trafficking. And the information sharing would be incredible. It would be, we could really make a dent, really make a dent. So how do we help? How do we help? We need your money. Okay. What I would like to see, individual donors, and please, whatever you can give, it all adds up. You know, we have 4.6 million people here in Maricopa County. If every one of them gave $1, look at the difference it could make. But I'm also looking for businesses.

corporations that want to be corporate sponsors to this. You may never wear the badge or be actually sitting there at the operation, but you'll know that your dollar helped fund an operation which saved a girl, which got her out of the game. Where do they donate? They can donate at www. southwest guardian foundation.org. I appreciate the time. I love your passion for this topic because it's such an ugly thing, but thank you for the work you're doing. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mike. Thanks for having me. All right. Coming up, we are going to get an update on the Middle East. Stick around for that.