New instrument to support law enforcement authorities from Florida and organizations in combating human trafficking and supporting victims

By Matthew Cimititil, Communication and Marketing of the University

The University of South Florida starts a new data repository that illustrates the size, trends and geographical scope of human trafficking throughout the state.

The tool can be referred to as Tipstr and can help law enforcement and combat organizations where resources can best be used to combat crime, and provides important information in combating gaps in victim services and the development of prevention programs.

Tipstr was launched by the USF risk for the research laboratory of resilience research laboratory and, according to the elected officials and law enforcement authorities, will be transforming in the struggle of the state against human trafficking.

“What makes it possible for us to take all the data of human trafficking that are collected throughout the state and create a central database and mapping tool that provides a comprehensive picture of the problem and supports those in demanding patterns and solution of problems,” said Joan Reid, Usf criminology professor and director of the tip laboratory. “We believe that Tipstr will inform the guidelines where the state should invest and help the law enforcement authorities in the targeted use of resources to react effectively to human trafficking.”

Tipstr was created by a partnership between the TIP laboratory and the allies against slavery, a non-profit organization that builds data platforms to combat human trafficking. They worked to aggregate, store and visualize data with Lighthouse, a robust software platform that was successfully implemented in Texas and Louisiana.

Tipstr uses Lighthouse to create a variety of data from state agencies, universities and anti-trade organizations in order to give the largest picture of the problem of human retail so far. According to the Florida Department of Children and Family, Florida has the third highest amount of human trade cases in the nation.

The data includes arrests, federal and state persecution measures, displays of illegal websites, misuse reports of human trafficking, laws and guidelines, services for victims, educational prevention, demography and more. Lighthouse assigns all this information to visualize the extent of human trafficking and the trends over time.

“Human trafficking is a crisis that requires innovative solutions, and the Tipstr tool represents a big step forward when identifying risks and people in need of protection,” said Fl. State Senator Darryl Rouson.

Tipstr was made possible by the funding of the state of Florida and the federal government. The tip laboratory received $ 750,000 from the 2024-25 state budget in order to develop and operate the nationwide data trading repository for human trafficking. The US representative Kathy Castor was also able to secure almost 1 million US dollars for Tipstr from the Federal Expenses Package in 2024.

“I am grateful that I and the incredible work that does the tip laboratory to combat human trafficking,” said Fl. State representative Lindsay Cross. “In order to combat human trafficking, we need a coherent approach to aiming for criminals that support the victims with the services they need and determines prevention programs. This comprehensive data repository already provides crucial information to fix where resources are necessary and how we can hide human trafficking.

Since the foundation of USF St. Petersburg in 2020, the TIP laboratory has been an important research center in the struggle of the state against human trafficking and a valuable partner for organizations who support survivors.

In 2023, Governor Ron Desantis signed a law that made the laboratory a nationwide repository for anonymous data in human trade. In addition to the collection and analysis of nationwide data, the laboratory with the evaluation of the effectiveness of state initiatives to combat human trafficking and cooperation with law enforcement authorities and state authorities is to report data on investigations and law enforcement measures for human trafficking. It is the only partnership between university states with this mandate in the country.

In 2024, the TIP laboratory started the bright network (bridging resources and information gaps in human trafficking), an online -, checked, safe resource transfer network for those who offer victims of human trade.

The central platform enables experts in anti-trading organizations, surviving resources such as healthcare and safe living space to be followed, coordinated and provided. Criminal prosecution authorities, non-profit organizations and social workers can access user-friendly technology to support victims of labor and sex trade. A large part of the victim service data within Tipstr was originally compiled via the bright network.

Now the tip laboratory with allies against slavery has developed tools and information to further support the state in combating human trafficking.

“In allies against slavery, we are an honor to support this important work through our Lighthouse software platform that helps the state and government leaders to see and act the collected data clearly,” said John Take, President and CEO of Alliies. “Tipststr, together with the leadership of Florida and the USF specialist knowledge, shows other countries how data and partnerships can work together to effectively combat human trafficking.”

Later this year, the TIP laboratory is published by a report to the governor, the President of the Senate of Florida and spokesman for Florida House, which provides a basic status of human trafficking in the state. Tip -Lab researcher hope that both the introduction of the tool and the state report will motivate others to collect and transmit data to Tipstr.

“We hope that the introduction of this new tool and the state report will motivate more people and organizations that work in this area to collect larger data on human trafficking, which further refine and show the overall picture where we have to lead resources,” said Kailey Carter, project manager for Tippstr and the bright network.