WashACT is a multi-disciplinary task force convened in 2005 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington (USAO-WDWA). WashACT’s mission is to ensure the victims of trafficking receive all resources available to them and that human traffickers are identified, investigated and prosecuted to the utmost extent of the law. Since its founding, WashACT has led the fight against human trafficking in Washington State through its collaborative, victim-centered task force.

WashACT is co-chaired by Lt. Jim Fitzgerald, the Commander of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) Vice High Risk Victims Unit, Kate Crisham, Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) for the USAO-WDWA, and Kathleen Morris, Deputy Director of the International Rescue Committee in Seattle (IRC). In addition to the USAO-WDWA, SPD, and IRC Seattle, WashACT is comprised of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and a myriad of local, state, and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations working to combat human trafficking. IRC Seattle leads a coalition of victim service organizations known as the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN); all WARN partners are members of WashACT. The WashACT Core Team is a sub-group of task force partners working directly on human trafficking cases as comprised of WARN staff who support survivors involved in investigations and prosecutions; law enforcement agents working cases from SPD, HSI, the FBI, and other agencies; victim specialists from these agencies; and the AUSA designated as the Human Trafficking Point of Contact at the USAO-WDWA, who leads human trafficking prosecutions.