ABOUT JOHN VANEK
John Vanek retired in the rank of Lieutenant from the San Jose (Ca.) Police Department after 25 years of service in 2011. In 2006 John was assigned to manage the Department’s Human Trafficking Task Force, one of 40 task forces in a nationwide program funded by the United States Department of Justice. The mission of the Task Force (working in collaboration with the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking) was to create a victim-centered, multidisciplinary response to identify and rescue victims of trafficking, prosecute offenders, train law enforcement, and raise public awareness of modern-day slavery.
Since that time John has engaged in collaborative efforts with Federal and State agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community and faith-based organizations and other entities, to create one of the most visible and publicly engaged anti-trafficking collaboratives in the United States. John’s expertise has been utilized by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Office for Victims of Crime / Training and Technical Assistance Center, California ‘s Commission on POST, California’s Office of the Attorney General, the Not For Sale Campaign, and a variety of other governmental and non-governmental agencies.
John is a member of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Anti-Human Trafficking Planning Committee, where he assisted in the creation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations Eguide. John also serves on the National Advisory Board for the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking’s Colorado Project, and is also an instructor for the Human Trafficking of Minors Course, a project of the California Emergency Management Agency and the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force training local law enforcement officers and service providers how to identify victims of trafficking, focusing on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children – CSEC.
John routinely speaks before the public, law enforcement officers, victim-services providers, and other dedicated professionals and abolitionists on the need for leadership and collaborative partnerships to end slavery.
In addition, John is an adjunct instructor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies facilitating a workshop on the complexities of human trafficking and the need for a multidisciplinary, collaborative response.
Over the course of his 25-year police career, John’s assignments included Special Operations, Training, Sexual Assault Investigations, Vice, Systems Development, and the Bomb Squad. He received his BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University, and is currently pursuing a MA in Leadership Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California.
John can be reached at: jjvanek@hotmail.com
Past Speaking Engagements Include:
-USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, University of Southern California, October 2012
-International Lactation Consultants Association Conference (Identifying Trafficking Victims in the Health Care Setting), Orlando, FL, July 2012
-Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs, Baltimore, MD (training related to the 2013 inclusion of human trafficking in the Uniform Crime Report), April 2012
-Sanela Diana Jenkins International Human Rights Speakers Series, Stanford University, February 2012
-Human Trafficking: Law Enforcement Responds, presented by My Sister’s House, Sacramento, CA, February 2012
-Slavery in Your Backyard, sponsored by University of California at Berkeley, October 2011
-Global Forum on Human Trafficking, presented by the Not For Sale Campaign, Sunnyvale, CA, October 2011
-Creating a Zero Tolerance Community, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, San Mateo, CA, May 2011
-Backyard Academy, sponsored by the Not For Sale Campaign, Palm Beach, FL, May 2011
-Social Justice & Civil Engagement, sponsored by Holy Names University, Oakland, CA, March 2011
-American Probation & Parole Association Winter Seminar, Orlando, FL, March 2011
-Conference on Human Trafficking, presented by the South Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking , San Antonio, TX, February 2011
-Freedom Summit, Fremont, CA, January 2011
-Global Forum on Human Trafficking, presented by the Not For Sale Campaign, Yorba Linda, CA, October 2010
-National Conference on Human Trafficking, presented by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Arlington, VA, May 2010
-Global Forum on Human Trafficking, presented by the Not For Sale Campaign, Carlsbad, CA, October 2009
-Senior Law Enforcement Executives Symposium, presented by the United States Attorneys Office, Monterey, CA, April 2009
-California Attorney General’s Annual Conference on Organized Crime, Gangs, Criminal Intelligence and Terrorism, Sacramento, CA, August 2007
