Nevada governor, officials to raise awareness of human trafficking

Gov. Brian Sandoval and Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles officials will wear blue Thursday to mark National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and stand in solidarity with the crime’s victims.

At 2 p.m., outside the DMV’s Sahara Avenue office, they will announce their partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign to raise awareness of the crime in Nevada.

“Las Vegas is a huge target for human trafficking, because of the tourism and the wide variety of people,” DMV spokeswoman Alexandra Smith said. “The great thing about the DMV is that we interact with nearly 100 percent of the population, so we have that unique opportunity to reach such a broad spectrum.”

In the Nevada driver’s handbook, a new page will be dedicated to an overview of the signs of human trafficking.

Since the summer, the DMV has handed out “Truckers Against Trafficking” cards to commercial drivers detailing ways that they can report conduct they see on the roads, at gas stations, motels and other areas.

“We’re expanding this to the Blue Campaign, since it’s a broad general awareness, as opposed to that smaller market,” Smith said. “It’s become a passion project for us, and we think we can make an impact.”

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @brianarerick on Twitter.