Matt Cooper joins Tim today as they dive deeper into the mind space of an undercover operator. We intentionally go to the darkest corners of the globe to rescue children from trafficking. They are the places no one else would go but a lot of what our operators see are things that no one should ever have to witness, let alone experience. 

Tim reflects back on his experiences when he was first sent to undercover school, something he never sought to do. There isn’t anything inherent in police officers that makes them good undercover operators. They must be trained to respond quickly and do whatever it takes to really play the role and dig into a trafficking ring. Tim and Matt share how that can really mess with a person. 

Going undercover is a massive responsibility to take on board, and it also takes a huge mental and emotional toll on our operators. Matt and Tim talk about how they both deal with the after-effects of an operation and why coming home to their families is often a brutal reminder of everything they have just witnessed. 

O.U.R. has rescued hundreds of kids in Haiti, most of whom were made victims by the horrific earthquake in 2010. Tim tells the story of a little girl who was forced into trafficking after losing her family. She never believed that anyone would come to her rescue but exactly 8 years later, we walked through that door and brought hope where there was no hope. 

This work is never done and Operation Underground Railroad needs your help to rescue as many children as possible. To help us carry out more operations, please head to ourrescue.org/give-now and thanks for listening.

In The Trenches Podcast:

- Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/in-the-trenches/id1682836532

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0b7lKGYKVG192vcRE88mwp

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/podcast

Shop the O.U.R. merch worn in this episode:

- Tim and Matt's Snapback Cap: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/our-rescue-snapback

- Tim's T-shirt: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/the-hidden-war-tee

- Matt's T-shirt: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/freedomflaggreentee

Want to get more involved with Operation Underground Railroad?

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/

- Donate: https://www.ourrescue.org/give-now

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourrescue/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-underground-railroad/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourrescue

Please note that while we strive to present accurate and up-to-date information, we may occasionally make errors or present facts that are not entirely precise. We encourage our listeners to do their own research and fact-checking, and we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

#colombia #children #abuse #humantraffickingstories #undergroundrailroad #podcast #awareness #ourrescue #timballard

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim and Matt Cooper talk today about coming face to face with human traffickers over the years and how they don’t necessarily look like the stereotypical creep you’d imagine. 

One of the challenging aspects of this line of work, and a reason why child exploitation and human trafficking are so prevalent, is that there is no profile for a paedophile. You can’t easily identify who they could be because a lot of the time, they look like your friend, your neighbour, your pastor or your teacher. 

Tim and Matt talk about the shocking fact that a lot of the “successful” human trafficking networks have a female who takes care of the victims. These women have usually worked in the sex industry themselves and they use their knowledge to turn it on other victims of trafficking. This is another reason why female undercover operatives are so vital because they are able to build trust with the female perpetrators more so than men.  

Reflecting on an operation where the perpetrator was acting strange, trying to determine if Tim was an undercover agent, Tim shares how frightening it is to see the lengths people will go to in order to engage in this sickening behaviour. 

Tim shares a sobering warning that some of what we are seeing pushed today in political and social movements is actually trying to normalize sexually deviant behavior with children. He talks about the policies that are being proposed and enacted are the exact policies the paedophiles have been pushing for half a century. Let this be a further urge to parents, grandparents and carers that it’s time to wake up and not allow our children to be caught in the child trap. 

This work is never done and Operation Underground Railroad needs your help to rescue as many children as possible. To help us carry out more operations, please head to ourrescue.org/give-now and thanks for listening.

In The Trenches Podcast:

- Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/in-the-trenches/id1682836532

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0b7lKGYKVG192vcRE88mwp

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/podcast

Shop the O.U.R. merch worn in this episode:

Matt's hat: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/...

Want to get more involved with Operation Underground Railroad?

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/

- Donate: https://www.ourrescue.org/give-now

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourrescue/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-underground-railroad/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourrescue

Please note that while we strive to present accurate and up-to-date information, we may occasionally make errors or present facts that are not entirely precise. We encourage our listeners to do their own research and fact-checking, and we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

#colombia #children #abuse #humantraffickingstories #undergroundrailroad #podcast #awareness #ourrescue #timballard

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Special guest JC Holt, who heads up O.U.R.’s domestic projects, joins Tim today to talk about the incredible work being done to fight child crimes in the United States. Shockingly, the United States is in the top three destination countries for human trafficking, which means there is a lot of work to be done on the domestic front. 

With a background in law enforcement, JC has changed the game in terms of what we’re able to achieve in the United States. He talks about his ability to interface with other police officers and how this has been extremely beneficial in taking a coordinated approach to operations. Once O.U.R. started working with a few law enforcement agencies and they saw how quickly things were getting done, the phone hasn't stopped ringing.

Tim and JC talk about being able to bypass the bureaucracy that exists within government departments, meaning that resources are distributed and perpetrators are arrested at an accelerated pace. 

The resources required to fight this fight are expensive and with the ‘defund the police’ era, budget cuts make it even more difficult. This is why O.U.R. is proud to say that we fund the police. JC and Tim talk about some of the resources we have provided to help rescue children all across America, including mobile labs to action warrants and digital forensics on the scene, over 60 K9 dogs across the United States and digital extraction software to unlock devices that these amazing dogs uncover. 

JC talks about the hard work and dedication that goes into training the K9 dogs and how they have contributed to the arrest of hundreds of perpetrators in the United States, and as a result of that, helped countless victims. 

This work is never done and Operation Underground Railroad needs your help to rescue as many children as possible. To help us carry out more operations, please head to ourrescue.org/give-now and thanks for listening.

In The Trenches Podcast:

- Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/in-the-trenches/id1682836532

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0b7lKGYKVG192vcRE88mwp

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/podcast

Shop the O.U.R. merch worn in this episode:

- Tim and Matt's Snapback Cap: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/our-rescue-snapback

- Tim's T-shirt: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/the-hidden-war-tee

- Matt's T-shirt: https://store.ourrescue.org/products/freedomflaggreentee

Want to get more involved with Operation Underground Railroad?

- Website: https://www.ourrescue.org/

- Donate: https://www.ourrescue.org/give-now

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourrescue/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/ourrescue

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-underground-railroad/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourrescue

Please note that while we strive to present accurate and up-to-date information, we may occasionally make errors or present facts that are not entirely precise. We encourage our listeners to do their own research and fact-checking, and we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.