Lt. Wade Williams

Lieutenant Wade Williams serves as the Lieutenant of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Special Crimes Bureau Exploitation Section. He oversees the INTERCEPT Task Force, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Federal Task Force, the Missing Persons Unit, the Internet Exploitation Unit, and the Human Trafficking Unit, and supervises sworn detectives and civilian deputies. He also serves as a member of the Child Abduction Response Team (CART) and the Human Trafficking Task Force for the Middle District of Florida.

Wade holds a Master of Science in Criminology from Florida State University and began his law enforcement career in 2003 as a patrol deputy and detective. With more than 19 years of service in Collier County, he has received extensive specialized training in leadership, community relations, and investigations. His dedication and hard work have resulted in the arrest and prosecution of numerous sex predators and traffickers.

He has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Phoenix Award (2016) for saving a life, the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award (2019) from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, and a Teamwork Award for supervising a multi-jurisdictional human trafficking investigation dubbed Operation Human Freedom, which resulted in the apprehension of 15 suspects.

Wade regularly collaborates with Christy’s Cause in community events and trainings, sharing his expertise and passion for eradicating child exploitation and trafficking. He is also an expert contributor for the WeCare@FGCU Training Program, equipping professionals across multiple sectors to identify and respond to human trafficking.