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    Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts held a signing ceremony at the State Capitol Tuesday morning to proclaim January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
      The governor said the idea behind the proclamation and the ceremony was to raise awareness among the residents of the state to the prevalence and horror of human trafficking and how they can help fight it.
Ricketts was joined by state Attorney General Doug Peterson and Colonel John Bolduc, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol.
Peterson, who decided against running for a third term this year, said last year was a banner year in the state’s effort to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes while supporting its victims.
Peterson said the Furnas County case – which centered on Oxford, a town of fewer than 800 residents about 30 miles southwest of Kearney – is a perfect example of how successful human trafficking investigations are put together.
He said it began with a citizen reporting suspicious activity. Local law enforcement then partnered with Peterson’s office and the State Patrol in an investigation that started with one suspect and ended in a series of convictions.
Peterson, Bolduc, and Ricketts all encouraged Nebraskans to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to report any suspicions of Human Trafficking.