NASHVILLE – Beginning today, drivers on major roads across the state of Tennessee will see a set of new billboards as part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s efforts to address the issue of human trafficking.

The billboards, part of the agency’s ongoing ‘IT Has To Stop’ campaign, are designed to encourage people to visit www.ithastostop.com to learn more about crime of trafficking and how it impacts Tennessee, along with the warning signs, the state’s laws, and how to help in the fight against it. This is the second year the TBI has embarked on an electronic billboard campaign in its effort to educate the public about this issue. January is also National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, it’s unacceptable, and it’s a crime in Tennessee,” said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. “We hope TBI’s public awareness campaign continues to shed some much-needed light on the issue, so we can increase the number of people who insist it has to stop in our state and beyond.”

The billboards, funded by a grant from the State of Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs, will be posted in a variety of places through the month of June. Currently, they can be seen in the following locations:

• Memphis – I-55, west of South Third Street
• Nashville – I-24/40, at Fesslers Lane
• Chattanooga – I-75, near Ringgold Road
• Knoxville – Lovell Road, near I-40
• Johnson City – Roan Street, south of 11E