Human trafficking concerns ahead of 2025 NFL draft | WTAQ News Discussion | 97.5 FM · 1360 AM

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The 2025 NFL Draft aims to bring hundreds of thousands of football fans to Northeast Wisconsin. Therefore, this risks creating a greater threat of human trafficking.

“Our organization did research during Detroit's latest draft and talked with other local nonprofits, and they saw an increase in calls to emergency lines and the need for services emergency as well as job placement services,” said Hannah Burkle, Awaken’s program director. .

For that reason, Awaken — a nonprofit sex trafficking advocacy group — is working to improve education before next April, when the NFL Draft takes place in Green Bay.

Burkle said it is first important to realize the current reality of the human trafficking problem in the region.

“It happens across socioeconomic means, different genders and different races,” Burkle said.

Brown County is now considering ways to be proactive in combating this problem.

“We would be naive to think that it’s not right in front of us here, especially with a big crowd of people coming,” said County Supervisor Dixon Wolfe.

Wolfe urges more to be done to prevent trafficking before the draft.

“Possible orders, resolutions to possibly crack down on some of the companies that might allow some of these processes to take place,” Wolfe said.

He asks the county to look at potential strategies.

“I am passionate about protecting men, women and children from the dangers of trafficking,” Wolfe said. “I simply urge the ministry to explore avenues.”

It started Monday at a public safety committee meeting, where Sheriff Todd Delain responded to Wolfe's request.

“It’s not exclusive to the project – it’s something we always take seriously and have taken proactive steps in this regard,” Delain said.

The committee made no official decision other than to receive and deposit the consideration into the file.