Agenda Item Request
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Acceptance of an additional $2,025,665.99 in grant funds from the Howard Buffet Foundation for the Sheriff's Office Human Trafficking Initiative.
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Background and Purpose of Request
I wanted to update Commissioners on the significant progress we have made in developing the Human Trafficking Intelligence Analyst position. As you are aware, we were before the Commissioners in March concerning the partnership with Preble Street and the Buffett Foundation to address the increasing prevalence of organized criminal human trafficking in the State of Maine. The Buffett Foundation has identified Maine as one of three states experiencing a sharp rise in these offenses and selected our agency as its sole law enforcement partner within the state. In March, the Commissioners accepted a $500,000.00 grant over five years. We have received word from the Howard Buffet Foundation that they would like to provide additional grant funds towards this initiative. This additional opportunity would increase the grant to $2,525,665.99, an increase of $2,025,665.99.
As previously discussed, the Buffett Foundation has committed to fully funding a new Criminal Intelligence Analyst position-distinct from the existing Criminal Analyst role-for the next five years. In addition, the Foundation has agreed to fund 50% of the total compensation for a detective assigned to human trafficking investigations over the same period. Detective Ben Schaffer is currently assigned to the regional human trafficking task force, where he attends regular monthly meetings and actively contributes to case development. Additionally, the new proposed budget includes overtime funding for the detective and intelligence analyst.
I became aware of the Grant funding increase during a recent budget conversation with Preble Street and Buffett Foundation representatives. On April 6th, I was presented with an updated budget from the Buffett Foundation that included the funding increase. The bu...
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