POSTERS INFORM PUBLIC HOW TO REPORT SUSPECTED TRAFFICKING

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By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

July 29, 2019 (San Diego) - California Senate Bill 1193 (SB1193), enacted in 2013, added a law that certain businesses such as on-sale beer and liquor establishments, general public premise licenses, type 48are required to post a notice to help and assist victims of human trafficking, and alert the general public, on how to report the sex trafficking.

Have you seen the notice when you are out drinking and eating?  You should have.

 

The poster should be as common to the public as the “Wash Your Hands” notices posted in public restrooms. It should provide a text number, on how to seek help or report unlawful activity. 

But, are all establishments with a 48-liquor license aware of the law?  Do you, as a customer, remember seeing a poster about human trafficking in a bar/restaurant? 

 

The statute states: 

 

52.6.  (a) Each of the following businesses and other establishments shall, upon the availability of the model notice described in subdivision (d), post a notice that complies with the requirements of this section in a conspicuous place near the public entrance of the establishment or in another conspicuous location in clear view of the public and employees where similar notices are customarily posted

 

Additional requirements were added with the enactment of AB260 and SB225 (2017). SB225 requires the model notice to provide a specified number to text.  AB260 added hotels, bed and breakfast inns, and motels to the list of specified businesses required to post the model notice. 

 

“We have a 48.  This 4license has been here since the ‘60’s, “said Fred Vietri, owner of the bar/restaurant, The Casino Inn, in Alpine.  “You can’t move a 48; but I can sell it.”  Vietri was well-aware-of the civil code requiring the posting of the sex trafficking poster. 

How many other areas have license 48s? Here are two examples locally.

 

“There are 15 type 48 licensed premises in the city of Chula Vista,” said John Carr, information officer II for the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.  

 

Carr noted there are currently 121 type 48s in the city of San Diego.

 

The number to text is 233733 (BeFree).  A number to call is: 1-888-373-7888.  The notice must be at least 8.5 x 11 inches and size 16 font. 

 

Besides a tavern, saloon, night club and other similar establishmentsthere are other mandated businesses that are required to post the notice, such as:

 

  • Adult or sexually oriented businesses
  • Primary airports
  • Urgent care centers
  • Truck stops
  • Businesses or establishments that offer massage or bodywork services for compensation
  • Urgent care centers
  • Roadside rest areas

Just to name a few. 

 

To obtain copies and formats for the poster, visit:  https://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking/model-notice

 

For information on human trafficking, visit www.TraffickingResourceCenter.org.


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