SUNY Canton Virtual Law Enforcement Series Features Human Trafficking Victim Advocates

SUNY Canton is continuing its Law Enforcement Day tradition by hosting four special-topic virtual discussions throughout the semester.

The series, hosted by the college’s Center for Criminal Justice, Intelligence and Cybersecurity, is free and open to the public. The first event will be held at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18 and will feature representatives from human trafficking victims advocate organizations and state agencies.

The panelists are:

• Mary Armistead, an attorney for the Trafficking Victims Program through The Legal Project in Albany.
• Christine Battisti, the chief operations officer for the Crime Victims Assistance Center in Binghamton.
• Carl Boykin, director of human trafficking prevention at the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
• Katherine Kopita, a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
• Marilyn Morey, public affairs specialist/community outreach coordinator with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
• Renán Salgado from the Worker Justice Center of New York.
• Jody Wheet, director of the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children’s Mohawk Valley field office. 

“Human trafficking is a global problem, and it as a crime in which force, fraud or coercion is used to pressure children and adults, immigrants and non-immigrants, to work in various labor forces for commercial purposes,” said Associate Professor of Practice Susan Buckley, who teaches in the college’s Criminal Justice Program. “Human trafficking includes sex trafficking, but also encompasses situations where laborers are exploited by unscrupulous employers.”

The experts will touch on many topics that also are woven into SUNY Canton’s new Forensic Criminology bachelor’s degree program. The curriculum focuses on the causes of crime and examines the complex factors that leave some individuals more vulnerable to human trafficking, as well as the dynamics that lead others to perpetrate it.

“Students look at crimes like trafficking from many different angles in order to better understand, and more effectively assist in the investigation of, these offenses,” said Assistant Professor Michelle Currier, Ph.D., who is the program’s lead faculty member. “Courses in the causes of crime, sex offender behavior and forensic victimology give students a complete picture of public safety threats.”

For more details about the series, and for information about joining the event via GoToMeeting, visit https://www.canton.edu/led/. Upcoming panels will discuss technology used to uncover clandestine graves on Feb. 25, cybersecurity issues on March 18, and emergency management on April 8.