On August 31, 1987, Ryan VanLuschen was playing near his home in Libby, Montana, when he was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered by a repeat sex offender. The killer had recently been paroled from prison two years early for good behavior.
One of Ryan’s friends, DeliverFund operations director Shane Erickson, said Ryan’s death has shaped his desire to protect communities and hold criminals accountable.
Shane began his pursuit of justice by becoming a local police officer in Montana. After five years on the patrol, he was transferred to detective. After two more years, Shane was promoted to supervisor of the investigations division. While Shane enjoyed serving his community in rural Montana, he wanted to make a bigger impact.
Nick McKinley, a former U.S. Air Force pararescueman and CIA operative, also lived in a nearby community in Montana. Having traveled the world, Nick felt human trafficking was close to home. “When I was in the Air Force, I saw it happening, but I didn’t know exactly what it was. Then when I got to the CIA, I learned what it was, and I started seeing it everywhere.”
When Nick retired from public office, he saw a gap between the international human trafficking crisis and the lack of resources to solve these crimes. This gap prompted Nick to found DeliverFund in 2014, a non-profit organization where he still serves as CEO.
According to the company’s website, “DeliverFund is revolutionizing the global human trafficking market by combining specially qualified people with the best technology, and using them in new ways to reach and rescue victims of human trafficking.”
Nick and Shane have a deep respect for federal, state and local law enforcement officers. They recognize that only law enforcement has the authority to execute search warrants and make arrests. What law enforcement lacks is the technology, training and time to process the comprehensive human trafficking data available on the Internet.
Nick pointed out that there are federal agencies that investigate the illegal sale of narcotics (DEA) and the illegal sale of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms (ATF), but these goods all have legal purposes and legal channels of distribution. In contrast, human trafficking is 100% illegal according to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, yet there is no federal law enforcement agency dedicated to investigating these.
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s website, “HSI has dedicated human trafficking investigative groups in field offices across the country and participates in more than 90 human trafficking task forces across the country.”
As a criminal supervisor, Shane worked with ICE and the FBI on human trafficking cases, but they focused primarily on the most vulnerable: infants and children.
I spoke with an agent who works on the HSI task force and he acknowledged that the majority of the cases they take on are crimes against children. When they take on adult trafficking cases, it’s usually a means to an end.
This places responsibility for these crimes in the hands of state and local law enforcement officials.
Understaffed and underfunded
According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), nearly half of U.S. law enforcement agencies have fewer than 10 employees, 73% have fewer than 25 officers, and 86% have fewer than 50 officers.
Coming from the CIA, Nick believed that American law enforcement, like international intelligence agencies, had the connectivity to share resources and information. He also believed that law enforcement had better access to training and technology. Nick quickly realized that law enforcement didn’t need people to watch or break down doors; they needed technology hacks.
How DeliverFund and LE partnered
DeliverFund has worked with more than 500 law enforcement agencies across the country by providing training and operational support.
When law enforcement requests to partner with DeliverFund, Shane or other staff are deployed to the area to assist with the initial operation. DeliverFund analysts comb through websites known to advertise illicit sex, cross-referencing all the information in DeliverFund’s AI-driven database, called PATH (Platform for Analyzing and Targeting Human Traffickers).
DeliverFund will create intelligence targeting packages for the operation, giving law enforcement the latest, actionable intelligence to work with. Once law enforcement officials have contact with women working on illicit websites, they can send additional information to DeliverFund for further analysis, enhancing law enforcement’s investigation and aiding in arrests.
DeliverFund can deploy intelligence analysts to law enforcement agencies in just minutes, depending on their needs.
Once law enforcement is satisfied with the deliverables, DeliverFund can provide services remotely.
DeliverFund’s proprietary software also includes collision avoidance capabilities, alerting LEOs in other jurisdictions to overlapping investigations with other agencies, helping with both investigative intelligence and officer safety – all of which is provided completely at no cost to law enforcement agencies.
Protection of Police Officers
Real-time data provides law enforcement officials with the identity of suspects, victims, vehicles involved, and criminal histories, which allows them to call in further resources such as additional officers/detectives, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, aerial/drone support, and K9s.
DeliverFund’s AI technology protects law enforcement investigators from further trauma. The company’s software, Pathfinder, allows investigators to identify known victims once and then turn off the image screen. As investigators dig up additional information, the additional images are blurred. This drastically reduces the amount of images investigators need to ingest.
Stopping Traffickers
Nick and Shane acknowledge that law enforcement arrests alone will not solve the human trafficking problem: “I could give every human trafficker in the United States a green light right now, but there just aren’t enough law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.” [to hold them accountable]” Shane said.
This harsh reality has led to solutions and new partnerships. DeliverFund has formed collaborations with financial institutions, AirBnB, hotels, Uber, Lyft, and airlines to further disrupt traffickers. Shane says that when there aren’t enough people to apprehend traffickers, DeliverFund works with these business partners to make it nearly impossible for them to do business.
When a law enforcement agency requests to partner with DeliverFund, Shane or other staff will be deployed to the area to assist with initial operations.
Clear Visibility
But how big a problem is human trafficking? Does it really affect the average American?
Shane tried to put the issue in perspective by telling me, “80 percent of trafficking victims in our country are U.S. citizens being trafficked by other U.S. citizens. This is not an immigration issue. This is not another country’s issue. This is our issue.”
He also shared a DeliverFund success story about one family. The parents were in the tech industry. A trafficker lured their young son using the chat feature on a video game console. After chatting for several months, the trafficker came to the boy’s neighborhood and convinced him to meet outside. The trafficker abducted the boy and took him to another state within hours. DeliverFund was called in to assist. They quickly found the traffickers and turned the information over to law enforcement. The next morning, law enforcement executed the warrant and rescued the boy.
Recently, DeliverFund provided services during the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, producing intelligence reports five days before and five days after the Super Bowl to be sent to financial institutions and the Department of Homeland Security. Over a ten-day period, DeliverFund provided 453 intelligence reports on human trafficking in the Las Vegas area.
DeliverFund’s goal is to ensure that victims of human trafficking never have to take the stand. Due to the overwhelming negative evidence in their investigations, most traffickers accept plea bargains. As of this writing, DeliverFund has achieved a 100% conviction rate for traffickers who have gone to trial.
Something more?
Because DeliverFund can’t be everywhere at once, it launched a new program called OL-X, an opportunity for residents to partner with local law enforcement to help combat human trafficking activities in their communities.
To participate in the OL-X program, citizens must receive approval from their local law enforcement agency that they wish to work with an individual or group of citizens.
“DeliverFund steps in and provides law enforcement with the technology and data they need to be effective,” Shane said.
In addition to providing technical and data support to OL-X program members, DeliverFund wants to put human trafficking safety tools in the hands of every American. The company developed the HT Safeguard app for OiS and Android platforms. Using a phone number and email, HT Safeguard helps parents keep their children safe. The app costs $1.99 per user per month.
Users can look up information about their football coaches, romantic partners or neighbors on the app to see if they might have ties to human trafficking. They can then click “report results” and tag the data for future use by DeliverFund analysts and law enforcement.
HT Safeguard provides phone numbers and emails to help parents keep their children safe.
Funded by generous donors
DeliverFund is able to provide its free services thanks to generous donors who want to end slavery in the U.S. and around the world. DeliverFund generates additional revenue through selling merchandise, hosting their own fundraisers with their followers, and through the creation of an online coffee store, Thrivers Coffee, which donates all proceeds to DeliverFund.
Readers can learn more about the company by visiting the DeliverFund website.
