Human Rights Division

Florida’s geography and population unfortunately lend to being a hub of human trafficking and elder abuse — crimes that only continue to increase despite law enforcement’s best efforts.

The Office of the State Attorney the Fourth Judicial Circuit seeks to directly counter that increase with the creation of a Human Rights Division within its Special Prosecution Unit.

A first in Florida, this division is modeled after the United States Department of Justice program and is staffed with talented, dedicated attorneys and investigators who will concentrate on these difficult cases that victimize our community’s most vulnerable residents.

Additionally, this division will review hate crime and officer abuse cases — two rare offenses that require dedicated attention given their sensitive nature.

To provide tips about human trafficking, elder abuse, hate crime, or excessive force, call the office’s hotline at (904) 255-3099 and leave a message.

Messages left on the SAO’s Human Rights Hotline are checked and transcribed in summary daily during normal business hours. Summaries of each call’s content, when available, and its direction or disposition are noted. All calls are returned and followed up, unless no caller contact information is provided.

Statistics of calls to the SAO Human Rights Hotline will be published on this webpage monthly.

NOTE: The categories of “other” and “unrelated” are characterized as follows:

Calls labeled as “other” are considered other issues, topics, or types of cases handled by the State Attorney’s Office, but are unrelated to the SAO Human Rights Division’s investigations or operations (i.e. elder abuse, human trafficking, or law enforcement complaints) or Fourth Circuit. Calls labeled as “unrelated” are issues, topics, or complaints not under or within the jurisdiction of the Office of the State Attorney.

Elder Abuse Human Trafficking Police Complaint Other Unrelated Total Calls
March 2019 1 1 2*
April 2019 2 6 3 11
May 2019 2 7 9
June 2019 2 2
July 2019 1 1
August 2019 2 2
September 2019 2 1 3
October 2019 1 4 5
November 2019 4 3 7
December 2019 1 1 3 5
January 2020 1 5 6
February 2020 1 3 3 7
March 2020 1 1 1 3
April 2020 1 2 3
May 2020 1 4 3 8
June 2020 1 2 1 4
July 2020 1 1 8 10
August 2020 3 1 4
September 2020 2 3 5
October 2020 4 3 7
November 2020 3 2 4 9
December 2020 1 1 4 6
January 2021 1 1 2 4
February 2021 1 4 5
March 2021 1 1
April 2021 1 1
May 2021 1 1 2
June 2021 2 1 2 5
July 2021 1 1 2
August 2021 1 1
September 2021 2 2
October 2021 2 2
November 2021 1 1 2
December 2021 0
January 2022 3 3
February 2022  0
March 2022 2 2
April 2022 0
May 2022 1 1
June 2022 1 1 2
July 2022 1 1
August 2022 2 2
September 2022 1  1
October 2022 1 1 2
November 2022 0
December 2022 1  1
January 2023 1 1 2
February 2023 2 2
March 2023 1 1
April 2023 2 2
May 2023 1 1
June 2023 1 1
July 2023 1 1
August 2023 1 1 1 3
September 2023 1 1 2
October 2023 1 1
November 2023 1 1
December 2023 1 1  2
January 2024 1 1  
February 2024 1 1

 

*Statistic tracking of calls to the SAO Human Rights Hotline under this process did not begin until March 27, 2019. Therefore, the total of monthly calls is not reflective of the entire calendar month.

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