Law enforcement tools vary. Some are obvious such as cops patrolling school zones and serving as resource officers; staking out busy traffic corners and stretches to catch speeders; cruising from one end of town to another and back — making themselves highly visible and serving as deterrents against possible criminal infractions. Responding quickly to call of all kinds. The stuff we see each and every day as provided by local law enforcement. It is comforting to know just how good our officers are.

Another type of law enforcement to protect us — and our kids and grandkids is covert and downright sneaky. Such as undercover work done by a body of law enforcement such as the Columbiana County Drug Task Force.

A another big tool being utilized in the cyber age is a program used to help keep our children safe. An area program — the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force — is every vigilant in going after those seeking to have sex with juveniles using the Internet as a means to set it all up.

The task force, organized under the Ohio Attorney General’s Organized Crime Investigations Commission, made a bunch of recent arrests as part of its ongoing mission to target the demand side of human trafficking.

“Every parent should take comfort in knowing these predators are off the street, no longer attempting to buy sex with children,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “Kudos to (Mahoning County) Sheriff Greene and the task force for their continued work to arrest those seeking to prey on victims.”

You are likely aware of how the predators are nabbed. An officer well-trained in doing so, poses online as a juvenile to lure unsuspecting predators seeking to take advantage of children. Often a meeting is arranged with the perverts coming in from outside of our area. Then the cops move in. Charges vary. Then there is the shame factor. Being, say, a family man who gets popped on suspicion of seeking sex with a minor is humiliating and cause permanent shame. Especially seeing your name in our police blotter listings. And, maybe, along with a mugshot. Additionally, with the help of the Salem and East Palestine police departments, the task force conducted other undercover sting operations recently that targeted individuals who were attempting to buy sex — about a dozen in January. “Our message is clear: Don’t buy sex in Ohio — you will be charged and held accountable,” Yost said.

The Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force is led by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and includes resources from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, New Waterford Police Department, Cortland Police Department, Austintown Police Department, Youngstown Police Department, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Indictments are criminal allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Human trafficking is not going away. Praise for local law enforcement officers who are doing their very best each and every day to combat it.