Stephen Bets

While negotiating with offenders is not common for the police, street prostitutes have responded positively in several communities where the police and community have requested that they stay away from certain areas or reduce their nuisance behavior in exchange for some tolerance. In one Vancouver community, community groups posted signs and maps requesting that prostitutes stay out of certain areas. Obviously, it can be difficult to get prostitutes to comply with agreements.

Because street prostitution markets flourish under marginal economic conditions, economic redevelopment is often necessary to permanently eliminate street prostitution from the area.

New businesses emerge to replace those that supported street prostitution. Economic redevelopment usually requires a substantial investment of government and private resources. Street prostitution may be displaced to even more vulnerable areas.

In addition to routinely enforcing prostitution laws, the police often conduct intensive arrest campaigns against prostitutes, clients or both. These campaigns significantly increase the risks of arrest, at least temporarily, bringing large numbers of prostitutes and clients into the formal justice system. When combined with media coverage, the campaigns are intended to deter those arrested from offending again, and to deter potential clients. The campaigns’ deterrent value wears off over time, however. In high-volume arrest campaigns, the chances that police will arrest innocent people increase, unless they take special precautions. Without some follow-up court intervention or measures to change the environment, intensive enforcement campaigns only temporarily interrupt street prostitution, or move it elsewhere; they do not shut down a street prostitution market entirely.