Brian Rule
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This method cost 2%.
“My area includes the upper portion of Scott Avenue and 10 blocks on either side. With the budget the way it is and the workload constantly increasing, we don’t have the resources or the manpower to handle street prostitution cases. Making good cases against prostitutes takes many officers away from their normal patrol responsibilities. Often it requires the support of undercover officers to build a strong case. Even when these cases are made, the charges are often dropped or reduced by prosecutors.
Most of the officers know about the area residents’ complaints about the problem, so they simply move the prostitutes along whenever they see them. The bottom line is that the cost to the police department to address the problem is too great. The community as a whole knows very little about the prostitution problem in the city. It’s only when they see the familiar signs that they become alarmed. Our best efforts are to keep those signs to a minimum.”
Response Revealed
Harass and intimidate prostitutes.
Show/Hide DetailsWhen police have been placed under intense pressure to control street prostitution, yet have lacked adequate legal alternatives for doing so, some have turned to harassing and intimidating prostitutes, in some instances forcing them to relocate to another jurisdiction. There is no evidence that this is at all effective, and it undermines police integrity.
Response Revealed
Ignore the complaint.
Show/Hide DetailsNot all complaints that are reported justify an official action.
Response Revealed
Conduct sweeps.
Show/Hide DetailsSweeps are large-scale arrest campaigns targeting suspected prostitutes without the intent to prosecute. Sweeps have long been a police strategy to control street prostitution, particularly when they have had few legal alternatives for dealing with the problem, yet have been pressured to do something about it. There is little evidence that sweeps are anything other than temporarily effective at removing prostitutes from the street, and they do considerable harm to the integrity of the criminal justice system. It is not uncommon for police to arrest innocent people during sweeps.
Response Revealed
Enforce laws prohibiting conduct associated with prostitution and solicitation.
Show/Hide DetailsMany jurisdictions have enacted laws that prohibit conduct associated with prostitution and the solicitation thereof, such as loitering for the purposes of prostitution, loitering in search of a prostitute, and curb-crawling. These laws are designed to allow the police to charge prostitutes and clients without having to prove there was a proposed or actual exchange of money for sex. Charges of loitering for the purposes of prostitution are difficult to prove in some jurisdictions, so even if arrest rates are high, prosecutions may not be.
