The money, $450,000 of which would come from the U.S. Justice Department and $180,000 from the Anchorage Police Department, would be used to create a task force to determine the extent of the problem here and find ways to stop it.

The Justice Department's portion of the money is part of a national grant program aimed at combating human trafficking, which refers to sex slavery and involuntary servitude. The Police Department's piece is a required local match in order to get the federal money.

"Within the $63 million budget that we have for the Police Department, this small amount of money is worthwhile to ensure that we can manage this problem," Mayor Mark Begich said Tuesday.

Although officials cite only one incident of human trafficking prosecuted in Anchorage -- a 2001 case where a group of Russian women were brought to Anchorage and allegedly forced to dance in a strip club -- some say many cases can go undetected.

"It's a problem," said Anna Fairclough, head of Standing Together Against Rape, a nonprofit crisis-intervention group, and the Assembly's chairwoman.

Cases that go unseen could include immigrant workers who come to Anchorage to work as housekeepers and end up being kept as virtual slaves by their employers, Fairclough said.

The Assembly did not approve the spending Tuesday. The proposal was introduced without discussion. A public hearing on the issue was scheduled for Nov. 1.

A memorandum that the Anchorage Police Department prepared in support of the proposal described the task force as "a fledgeling effort to bring together local and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, other government agencies and trafficking victim service providers" who would help prosecute local instances of human trafficking.

About $52,000 would cover travel and lodging for training classes. The next biggest chunk of spending would be about $16,000 for "intergovernmental costs." Administrative costs would total about $10,000, according to the Police Department's outline.

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