Cops & Courts

A note to readers and listeners: only the first names of children are used in this story.

Christian is 15 years old. And like many teenagers, he’s made some mistakes. “Kinda stupid stuff,” he says. “Like vandalism. Not necessarily graffiti or anything. But yeah. Vandalism.”

And he got caught.

“It’s funny, one little incident can change everybody’s opinion of you,” Christian says. “Like, everybody. At school, like the teachers, from the students, to your family and stuff. But I try not to look at it as a negative or anything.”

Slavery doesn’t often make the headlines, but the practice is alive and well in the 21st century. According to an investigation in the San Francisco Public Press, there are more people enslaved today than at any other time in history. The U.S. State Department says that estimates of those enslaved through human trafficking ranges from 4 million to 27 million people.

Harry Hu is the former gang-unit leader for the Oakland Police Department. He’s tall and burly, and – although he recently retired from the force – he still wears his gun and badge proudly on his belt. When he strolls down 8th Street, the foot patrol he followed every day in the early 80s, most people seem to recognize him – some wave and others stop to chat.