The Dallas Express interviewed Jason Paulson, a Dallas Police Department detective who has spent thirteen years on the force investigating sexual crimes against minors and, now, against adults.
Detective Paulson joined the Dallas Police Department in 2010. He said he has a passion for protecting victims of sexual trafficking and exploitation, and he moved to the detective team at first availability. He joined the Child Exploitation and High-Risk Victims of Trafficking team in 2016. In late 2021, Paulson moved to DPD’s Adult Sexual Assault Unit.
Paulson’s office battles criminal networks that he described as intricate, nationwide webs that pimps use to traffic victims. Paulson told The Dallas Express about one case that spanned multiple states.
“[The pimp] as an organization had anywhere between fifteen and thirty women who would work for him at a time,” he said. “He would set them up into teams and send them across the country for the purpose of prostitution all over America. We had reports in Florida, St. Louis, Utah, Tennessee, Detroit. I can’t remember where all. As a result of that, the feds took the case and charged him.”
Paulson repeatedly warned that social media platforms enable predators to lure victims, especially children, into sexual exploitation.
“You don’t know who the other person is online. They could say one thing and really be the complete opposite. They could say they’re 16 years old but really they’re 30, 40, or 50 years old,” Paulson told The Dallas Express.
Paulson said that while all parenting styles are different, he is vigilant in monitoring his own children’s online presence to protect them.
“I have two boys who love playing online video games,” he shared. “They know that when they get on Xbox and they’re playing online, they automatically mute everyone so they’re not talking to anyone. So we’re able to monitor that a little bit.”
He added that social media platforms are constantly developing, making it challenging and increasingly complicated for law enforcement to protect victims.
“[Social media] has absolutely made our work more difficult. When you look at it, if you have people communicating online, you have to get a search warrant for their social media. That takes time; you have to go get it signed by a judge.
“Then you have to submit it to whatever entity you’re looking for. Then they have to research it and send back whatever they find to you. … When you get that information back, you have to sift through that for days to find one piece of evidence.
“Or you may end up finding a lot of evidence that is just blatantly there. It definitely makes it more convoluted and difficult,” Paulson said.
In addition to struggling through the complications modern technology adds to investigating sexual assaults, Paulson says that the trauma of assaults makes it challenging to gather enough information to charge predators.
He says that conducting successful interviews with victims is an art that requires practice.
“Some people are very good with the details and some people can’t remember all the details. We understand that, but it makes it extremely difficult to solve these cases. It can be very frustrating to solve these cases when you can’t get the evidence,” he said.
“Interviewing is an art form,” he continued. “Especially when you’re looking at interviewing a suspect. Everybody has their own way of talking with victims of suspects. What works for me may not work for someone else and vice versa, so you really have to learn based off experience how to get information out of people.”
Dealing with cases as sensitive as sexual assault can take a toll on officers, Paulson shared with The Dallas Express.
“There are some cases, especially on the child side, that really get to you. You’re listening to a 10-year-old or a 14-year-old talk about how they were sexually assaulted.
“You’re listening to things while you interview them that they shouldn’t be dealing with at that age. They shouldn’t be dealing with that kind of stuff. It does wear on you,” said Paulson.
He added that he often receives requests for information or calls for assistance late at night, putting strain on his family.
“When I’m on call, I [may] get a phone call at one or two o’clock in the morning because patrol has a question about something or I have to go in on something.
“[My wife] deals with it, because not only am I getting woken up, she’s also getting woken up. There are some nights I may not even need to go in but I’ll still get two or three calls or more,” Paulson said.
With a team of only seven detectives investigating cases throughout the entire city, the workload can cause a strain on the detectives. Paulson said he exercises to maintain not just his physical strength but also his mental strength.
“The crimes and the cases are very important, but at the same time, so is your mental health. So I do run a lot. I’ve actually done two ultramarathons.”
Still, Paulson understands that the work his department does is critical. With non-family violence rape cases up 7.14% year over year in Dallas per the City dashboard, he knows his team’s work to prevent sexual assault is more important than ever.
“It’s always a fight, it’s always a battle. Unfortunately, we always gotta work hard prevent it,” the detective said.
