Protective Insurance and Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Harriet Tubman Award: Larren Tarver and Lauren Gnall with Lakefront Lines.
When the Lakefront Lines Bus Team in Ohio, who had recently completed the Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) training, was notified that a female passenger on one of their buses was allegedly being held against her will and forced into prostitution by a male passenger on the same bus, they immediately sprang into action.
As Larren, the driver, calmly stopped the bus, he reassured the other passengers while being as inconspicuous as possible about the reasons for the delay. He notified dispatch and triggered an internal response system within the Lakefront Lines Safety Team that swiftly communicated with law enforcement and ensured that police were on the scene as quickly as possible. Before the bus got back on the road—and safely got the other passengers to their destination—the suspect was arrested, the alleged victim was recovered, and the case was referred for further investigation.
“TAT knows there are several points of intersection between buses and human trafficking, and this is why we developed our Busing on the Lookout program,” said Laura Cyrus, Director of Corporate Engagement at TAT. “Thanks to having been trained on the issue of human trafficking and being aware of the complex realities that surround it, Larren and Lauren knew what to do and acted with courage and respect.”
The award was created in 2013 to honor members of the trucking and busing industries whose direct actions impacted those victimized by human trafficking. The goal is to recognize those whose actions helped to recover the enslaved, improve the lives of victims or prevent human trafficking from taking place. The award is named in honor of Harriet Tubman, the famed abolitionist credited with using the Underground Railroad to transport slaves to freedom. She was never caught and never lost a passenger.
“Presenting this award during our most important event of the year, in the presence of our customers and distribution partners, demonstrates our commitment to combating human trafficking,” said Jeremy Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at Protective Insurance. “Larren and Lauren exemplify the awareness and bravery we all need to have in the face of heinous crimes such as trafficking.”
Founded in 2009, TAT is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that exists to empower transportation industry personnel to combat human trafficking through its programs, educational resources and certification course in which drivers learn to identify and report potential trafficking cases. Before TAT existed, only sporadic tips were being reported by the trucking industry, but now they have made more than 2,200 calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888), generating more than 612 cases of trafficking involving more than 1,100 victims. To date, nearly 735,000 individuals have been trained by the organization.