A former British Police Detective, Undercover Operator, and recognized international expert on human trafficking, Julie Jones is the founder and CEO of Human-I Intelligence Services, an international consultancy specializing in cybercrime investigations and online open-source intelligence (OSINT). She has conducted diagnostic studies in 7 countries to date, analyzing and advising on institutional and judicial capacity to fight human trafficking, organized crime, money laundering, and corruption and providing input on national cybercrime policy related to human trafficking. Julie was recently appointed Senior Police Consultant on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence for the National Police Force in Guyana.
Julie has developed and delivered training in sexual and gender-based violence, human trafficking, trauma-informed and victim-centered practices, major case management, strategic and criminal intelligence, cybercrime, and OSINT. She is a passionate and tenacious field investigator and conducts active operations globally with a focus on human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, stalking, and cults.
A bestselling author of the book How to Become a World Class Investigator, international speaker, and former cast member of the award-winning factual reality UK TV series Hunted, Julie continues to work closely with media agencies as a consultant and researcher. She is a licensed private investigator in British Columbia and sits on the Advisory Council for the Anti-Trafficking Intelligence Initiative.
Early Career
Her career started 27 years ago as a British police officer, and she served for many years doing everything from undercover operator to detective to field intelligence officer. Being a field intelligence officer was the most interesting and set her up for the work she does today. This was in the late 90s or early 2000s when that technology was still in its infancy, particularly for investigations. Her job involved three main tasks at the time. She was responsible for going into prisons and interviewing sex offenders to gather intelligence about methodologies and grooming tactics. She was also responsible for dealing with potentially dangerous offenders in her division and keeping track of the offenders in the community and those coming out of prison. Lastly, she was responsible for dealing with covert human intelligence sources, which entailed finding info from people, infiltrating gangs and groups, and organized crime. That developed her passion for intelligence, humanity, and technology.
Technology was starting to be used more and more to investigate crimes. It was groundbreaking when, in 2004, they solved an armed robbery using social media. She immediately became passionate about using technology and how it could change law enforcement and society.
New Opportunities in Canada
Julie wanted to learn as much as she could about technology and law enforcement and found that there was a Canadian company doing training on intimate intelligence. She took a leave of absence to explore the intelligence side of technology. For two years, she studied with a Canadian company called Conlon. It was all about the future of crime, technology, and cyberpsychology. Because of that, she never returned to being a police officer and stayed in Canada. She stayed with the company for 12 years, teaching this information worldwide to law enforcement agencies, governments, the military, Fortune 500 companies, and NGOs. The focus of the education was how to use the internet as an investigative tool.
Creating Her Own Company
While Julie enjoyed teaching, she started to miss being on the front lines as an investigator. So, she reentered the investigations industry and started her own company. But it was a male-dominated “old boys network,” so no one would help her, even though they knew her and were past clients. To them, she was a competitor. Luckily for her, she started doing a factual reality TV show that raised her profile.
Julie gained a lot of attention from young women because of the show. She would receive hundreds of emails daily from female viewers who felt they could do what she does and wanted to know how to break into the field. This prompted her to write her book, How to Become a World-Class Investigator, which detailed how to enter the industry.
Complimentary Work
When Julie and I were getting to know each other, she was reading Combating Cult Mind Control, and we realized our expertise could help each other. She had worked with gangs and domestic violence victims, and when reading my book, she realized that she could use the BITE model as a framework for a better understanding of how people’s minds can be controlled. And sometimes, my clients need a PI like her, someone with a nuanced understanding of how to make people feel comfortable. She is rare not only because she is a female PI but also because she knows the technology so well. She understands how bad actors can use mind control techniques with coercive control, manipulation, brainwashing, and hypnosis and how it manifests online. She knows exploitation can happen very quickly or very slowly over time.
Trafficking and Consent
While the term human trafficking is used frequently today, there is still a lot of misunderstanding about what trafficking is. Trafficking is not just forced sex. It can be forced labor, forced begging, or forced pregnancy. It doesn’t necessarily mean one has to cross international borders either because a person can be trafficked in their own home. An example could be a child who goes to school every day but is trafficked when they are at home.
One subject that she focused on in her teaching and training is the subject of acquiescence, when one has given in and doesn’t fight. This is an issue for a lot of rape and trafficking victims where they don’t feel they can say “no.” When a person feels they can’t say “no” and just go along with something, it is not consent. It is acquiescence. Unfortunately, courts can take a very black-and-white view around consent, and if you didn’t say no, then you must have meant yes. Also, there can be a grey area where you agree to something that turns into something different, which isn’t informed consent.
Trust Pods
During our discussion of brainwashing, manipulation, and coercive control, I brought up my idea of “trust pods,” which I frequently recommend. It is creating a group of people that you trust to consult with to “reality-test.” Whenever one comes across something new, you know you are not alone and can ask others, “What do you think?” It is very beneficial to have trustworthy people to talk to, to look at new ideas with each other, and to share thoughts and concerns in our age of constant media content. It is also good to have people in your “pod” play a rotating role of “contrarian.” It is their role to be the hard skeptic and ask hard questions, recommend further research, or state it is “bad news.” We must be careful and inform consumers of this constant content to ensure we and our loved ones are not being influenced negatively.
Resources:
How to Become a World-Class Investigator
