During its Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010 session, the Erie County Legislature honored Erie County Sheriff Deputy Elizabeth Fildes for her tireless commitment to combat human trafficking.

Erie County Legislator Edward A. Rath III, R-Amherst, center, presented the proclamation to Deputy Fildes and was joined by members of the Public Safety Committee: Legislators John J. Mills, Lynne Dixon, Christina Bove, Daniel Kozub and Tim Kennedy. They are pictured with J. Michael Kennedy, Deputy Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“The Legislature is proud to honor Deputy Fildes’ achievements and thanks for her for many years of dedicated service,” Legislator Rath said. “We wish her the best as she prepares to travel to Guatemala for an extremely important training session.”

Deputy Fildes, a Hamburg resident, has been invited by the United States State Department to travel to Guatemala and help train law enforcement and government officials on the many facets of Human Trafficking. She will spend five days there and will leave at the end of the month.

Guatemala was recently placed on the Tier Two Watch List and risks sanctions by the United States government if they fail to take the necessary steps to address the issues of Human Trafficking.      

Deputy Fildes is a 29 year veteran of the Erie County Sheriff's Office and has been the Erie County Sheriff's Office's lead liaison to the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force for the past four years.