Stanley Wiltern

Community groups have organized to expose prostitution clients' identitiesto either the general public or the clients' families or employers. This can be done by photographing or videotaping clients, calling clients' families or employers, writing down license plate numbers of vehicles seen driving around prostitution strips, mailing warning letters or postcards to registered vehicle owners, or posting clients' names or photographs on street posts, billboards, telephone hotline fliers, and Internet sites. Some police agencies have sent official letters or postcards warning prostitution clients about the legal and health consequences of patronizing prostitutes. In some instances, they send these warnings only to those arrested for soliciting prostitutes; in other instances, they send them to the registered owners of suspicious vehicles seen driving through street prostitution areas. In some areas, police use closed-circuit TV cameras to discourage potential clients from hanging around.

Some police agencies and local governments have publicized the names and photographs of clients who are either arrested for and/or convicted of prostitution-related offenses. The names and photographs may appear on television, in newspapers or on Internet websites. Many media outlets, however, refuse to participate, deeming it unnewsworthy and not wanting to appear to be an agent of the government. Some local governments have purchased advertising space to publish the information. There should be safeguards so that innocent persons are not unfairly accused or implicated in illegal activity.

Traffic flow and patterns influence potential clients' perceptions about their chances of negotiating a transaction and their risks of getting caught. Traffic-related factors are especially significant where sex acts take place in vehicles. Many clients stop to solicit prostitutes while on their way to somewhere else–commonly to home or from work. Responses that make it more difficult or risky for clients to negotiate a transaction will either discourage them from soliciting street prostitutes or encourage them to seek prostitutes in indoor venues.

Under some circumstances, the traffic changes may lock the problem into an area rather than force it out. You should also be careful that any traffic changes do not cause undue harm to legitimate commerce in the area.