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Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution

Your analysis of your local problem should give you a better understanding of the Your analysis of your local problem should give you a better understanding of the factors that are contributing to it. Once you have analyzed your local problem and established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you should consider possible responses to address the problem.

The following response strategies provide a foundation of ideas for addressing your particular problem. These strategies are drawn from a variety of research studies and police reports. Several of these strategies may apply to your community's particular problem. It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Law enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the problem. Do not limit yourself to considering what police can do to better address the problem: carefully consider who else in your community shares responsibility for the problem and can help police better respond to it. The responsibility of responding, in some cases, may need to be shifted toward those who have the capacity to implement more effective responses. (For more detailed information on shifting and sharing responsibility, see Response Guide No. 3, Shifting and Sharing Responsibility for Public Safety Problems).

General Principles for an Effective Strategy

You should consider a few general principles when developing your response strategy. Which particular responses you adopt should depend on what you learn from a careful analysis of your local problem. The responses selected should be carefully focused on the angle of the problem that you are trying to resolve. Strategies seeking to reduce the harms caused by and experienced by prostitutes are more likely to work than those seeking to eliminate prostitution altogether. Strategies focused exclusively on arresting prostitutes are unlikely to be effective. [25] At a minimum, both prostitutes' and clients' conduct should be addressed. An effective strategy not only must force prostitutes off the streets and get them to stop their offensive behavior, but also must give them viable alternatives: either to get out of prostitution altogether, or to operate in less-offensive locations, times, or ways. This usually requires greater cooperation between the police and various service organizations. [26] The most effective responses to the problem of street prostitution rely heavily on social services for prostitutes to encourage their permanent exit from the street. Police must work closely with service providers to ensure the various enforcement- and treatment-based responses are well-coordinated.§ The transient nature of street prostitution and the fact that some responses may lead to displacement mean that jurisdictions must share information to make a significant regional impact on the problem.

§ The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Police Department's multiagency response to street prostitution required social service providers to ride with police officers in the patrol districts implementing the program. These ride-alongs helped to create mutual understanding and appreciation for each stakeholder's role in the program (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department 2003).

Specific Responses to Address Street Prostitution

Deterring Prostitutes and Clients

1. Enforcing laws prohibiting soliciting, patronizing, and loitering for the purposes of prostitution. The main strategy police use to control street prostitution is enforcing laws prohibiting soliciting, patronizing, and loitering for the purposes of prostitution. Enforcement strategies are expensive; each arrest costs thousands of dollars to process. By themselves, they are ineffective at either controlling street prostitution or protecting prostitutes from harm. [27] Increased police enforcement temporarily reduces the number of prostitutes on the street, but they usually reappear in new areas.§ This may actually increase street prostitution in the long term by creating new opportunities for prostitutes and potential clients to meet. While the severity of the penalties against prostitutes does appear to affect the volume of prostitution, modest fines against prostitutes may actually force them to commit more prostitution to pay the fines. Prostitutes who are prosecuted are usually convicted, but many of them fail to show up for court hearings. Most prostitutes consider the costs of being arrested as a business expense and an inconvenience, and not as a significant deterrent.

§ See Response Guide No. 1, The Benefits and Consequences of Police Crackdowns, for further discussion of how crackdowns work.

However, street prostitutes can provide valuable information to police about other crimes, and the threat of enforcement gives the police leverage for information. In some jurisdictions, controlling street prostitution is left to the vice squad. Limiting patrol officers' involvement is intended to reduce corruption, but it can give the public the impression that only corrupt officers would ignore the problem. Whether using patrol or specially trained vice officers, police agencies should properly train, supervise, and monitor officers' performance to reduce the likelihood of misconduct.

Historically, the police have arrested far more prostitutes than clients, although many police agencies have shifted toward a more balanced enforcement strategy, targeting clients as well as prostitutes. To promote a consistent response and improve the chances for successful prosecutions, police agencies should prepare written guidelines governing how and under what circumstances they will enforce prostitution laws.§§

§§ The Cleveland (England) Police's Middlesbrough Police District scheduled all defendants charged with soliciting for court on the same day. Concentrating the cases in this way helped judges to become aware of the problem's scope, ensured consistent sanctions, and raised media interest and, as a result, public awareness (Cleveland Police, Middlesbrough Police District 2000).

1a. Enforcing laws prohibiting prostitution and the solicitation thereof. Enforcing laws prohibiting prostitution usually requires undercover police officers to pose as clients to gather the necessary evidence, which can be difficult to get from street-savvy prostitutes.§ Enforcing prostitution laws against clients typically requires the police to pose as prostitutes to get evidence. Some police agencies still do not have enough female officers to conduct effective solicitation enforcement campaigns, and these assignments are typically not popular among officers. [28] Moreover, decoy arrests of clients are open to legal entrapment defenses if officers are not careful.
§ The particular statutory and evidentiary requirements vary across jurisdictions. United Kingdom police do not use this strategy because neither prostitution itself nor proposing the exchange of sex for money is illegal. Prostitutes use a variety of methods to determine if a prospective client is an undercover police officer, including exposing themselves or asking the client/ officer to expose himself. The city of St. Petersburg, Florida passed an ordinance that specifically mentioned prostitutes' efforts to identify police officers as among the behaviors that constitute a "verified pattern of solicitation activity."
1b. Enforcing laws prohibiting conduct associated with prostitution and the solicitation thereof. Many 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 let the police 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.
1c. Intensively enforcing prostitution laws against prostitutes and/or clients for short periods. 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 re-offending, and to deter potential clients. The campaigns' deterrent value wears off after 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.

Intensive arrest campaigns may inadvertently increase the risk of harm street prostitutes face. [29] To avoid police detection and to compensate for the reduced number of men soliciting services, prostitutes may work longer hours in more isolated, unfamiliar, or unsafe areas. The clientele in these areas may be unfamiliar, and yet the prostitutes may not take their usual safety precautions. As a result of increased competition for fewer clients, some prostitutes lower their prices, and thus must work in these conditions for longer periods to earn the same amount of money.

2. Establishing a highly visible police presence. A highly visible police presence, typically with extra uniformed officers, is intended to discourage area street prostitution. Extra police presence is expensive, of course, and is effective only if the police follow it up with more permanent strategies.§ It can also create the perception that the area is unsafe. Alternative methods to establish a police presence are to open a police station (e.g., a storefront office, mobile office, or kiosk) in the area, or affix antiprostitution warning signs to police vehicles patrolling the area. Private security forces might also be deployed to supplement a police presence.

§ See National Research Council (2004) for further discussion of the effectiveness of so-called "hot-spots policing." See also Problem-Solving Tools Guide No. Understanding and Responding to Crime and Disorder Hot Spots for further information.

3. Relaxing the regulation of indoor prostitution venues. Whether changes in enforcement levels against indoor prostitution (e.g., massage parlors, call girls, bar girls, and escort services) will affect street prostitution depends on how easily prostitutes can move back and forth between the streets and indoors. The conventional wisdom is that there is little movement between them, mostly due to the high proportion of street prostitutes who are heavy drug users and thus not likely to be hired by indoor venues. [30] But, within limits, prostitutes do have some mobility. The laws related to indoor prostitution are likely to affect the degree of mobility (it is legal in the United Kingdom, and illegal in the United States). Indoor prostitutes seem more easily able to work on the streets when they have to than street prostitutes can move indoors. [31] Relaxing the regulation of indoor prostitution may be perceived as condoning prostitution; in addition, indoor venues are of serious concern to police because of their role in the sexual exploitation of trafficked women.§

§ See Problem-Specific Guide No. 38, The Exploitation of Trafficked Women.

4. Enhancing fines/penalties for prostitution-related offenses committed within specified high-activity zones. Some communities have enhanced penalties for prostitution-related offenses committed within specific areas. These penalty enhancements are intended to move the street prostitution market to other locations so the target area can be redeveloped. You should be careful that the problem is not displaced to areas where the impact will be even worse. Research evidence about this response's effectiveness is lacking.
5. Banning prostitutes or clients from certain areas. Many courts order prostitutes and clients to stay out of specifically defined areas where street prostitution is prevalent, as a condition of either bail or probation. [32] This practice is commonly referred to as "mapping" offenders out of areas. Enforcing the orders requires that police have good physical descriptions of the offenders and know the specific parameters of the orders. [33] This practice may, however, displace prostitutes to more-remote areas outside the prohibited zone, areas which may prove more hazardous to the prostitutes. In addition, forbidding their entry into certain areas may sever ties to the only social support networks they may have. [34]
6. Using community justice panels and community service sentences in lieu of incarceration or fines. Instead of traditional criminal justice sanctions, prostitutes and clients can be required to appear before community justice panels that focus on restoring the harms the community suffers.§ Community service sanctions, when properly monitored and enforced, have been shown to be more effective than jail time or fines alone. [35]

§ In San Diego, California, men charged with soliciting are required to appear before a panel consisting of community members, prosecutors, public health workers, social service staff who work with prostitutes, and police (San Diego Police Department and San Diego City Attorney's Office 2003). Men charged with soliciting in Indianapolis, Indiana, are required to return to the community in which the offense occurred to publicly face area residents and to perform community service work there (American Prosecutors Research Institute 2004).

7. Enlisting community members to provide surveillance or to publicly protest against prostitutes or clients. Direct community activism in the form of organized marches, rallies, or confrontations of prostitutes and clients has proved effective in disrupting and moving street prostitution markets. [36] Neighborhood associations can also post warning signs on buildings and utility poles indicating their intolerance for street prostitution in their community, warning prostitutes and potential clients that the area is under surveillance, and indicating the applicable penalties. [37] This response is intended to intimidate prostitutes and clients, and to demonstrate the community's resolve against street prostitution. You must guard against overzealous community conduct that violates prostitutes' rights. In addition to the risk of vigilantism, police should recognize that some community protests do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the entire community, but instead represent the preferences of those who participate. [38] Police should maintain close involvement with community groups to ensure proper oversight and supervision.

Local street patrols conducted by community members can also provide valuable information to police.§ By recording the nature and volume of activity, these patrols can help police decide where to target their efforts. Effective patrols are difficult to establish and maintain without a highly committed leader to recruit, organize, and mobilize members. [39]

§ See Campbell (2001) for specific guidance on developing community leadership skills to address prostitution and a variety of other nuisance problems.

8. Educating and warning high-risk prostitute and client populations. Working with other institutions, you can target education and warning messages to groups especially likely to become involved in prostitution, as either prostitutes or clients.

Certain groups are especially vulnerable to being recruited or drawn to street prostitution, among them juvenile offenders, juvenile runaways, and juveniles in group homes (residential custody). Young people at high risk for being recruited into prostitution usually have multiple critical social and psychological problems that require attention if they are to be kept out of prostitution. Addressing them requires that police develop effective partnerships with schools, the juvenile justice system, and child welfare systems.

Among the high-risk client groups are male conventioneers, male soldiers, and previously arrested clients. The education and warning information can be conveyed through letters, lectures, video presentations, billboards, warning signs, or media outlets. A growing number of jurisdictions have established court-ordered education programs for convicted clients. These so-called "john schools" confront prostitution clients about the consequences of their behavior. [40] They usually include information about the legal and health consequences for clients, the impact of street prostitution on the community and local businesses, and the negative effects of prostitution on prostitutes. Many programs have led to positive changes in attitude among participants and enjoy substantial support from participants, stakeholders, and the public. The program fees charged to clients are often used to support services designed to help prostitutes to leave the trade. Recidivism rates for clients who participate in court-ordered education programs are low (around 2% to 7%). [41] It is less clear what added deterrent value there is in the education program beyond what is achieved by any official intervention, from a warning to an arrest. [42] Further, official recidivism statistics may not reflect actual behavior because they are driven by the enforcement level, which varies over time. [43] Finally, "john schools" do not specifically target potentially violent clients and therefore may deter only those least likely to victimize the prostitutes they solicit. [44]

Targeting Prostitutes

9. Serving restraining orders/civil injunctions against habitual prostitutes. A small percentage of prostitutes and pimps may be responsible for most of the complaints in a prostitution area. If you can establish this, you might more productively target your efforts at those few, rather than at the larger population of offenders. In the United Kingdom, Antisocial Behavior Orders (ASBOs) are used against habitual prostitutes to forbid a range of prostitution-related behaviors. [45] ASBO violations carry stiffer penalties than prostitution charges.

In several jurisdictions, the police have coordinated with merchants whose business is negatively affected by street prostitution to obtain restraining orders against prostitutes, prohibiting them from engaging in specific behavior within a specific area. [46] In San Bernardino, California, certain existing municipal codes have been incorporated into court-ordered civil injunctions against known prostitutes. Violations of the restraining orders result in jail time and fines that exceed the usual penalties.

The specific prohibitions mentioned in the San Bernardino restraining order are:

  • Approaching or signaling to any vehicle in any street, alley, or other public passage area, thus causing the vehicle to stop, unless a legitimate emergency so requires
  • Blocking the passage of any person or vehicle in any street, walkway, sidewalk, driveway, alley, or other public passage area
  • Being on, or causing others to be on, private property, except (1) with the property owner's prior written consent, or (2) in the property owner's presence and with his or her voluntary consent
  • Being on the premises of an uninhabited or abandoned building
  • Making, causing, or encouraging others to violate noise restrictions
  • Fighting in public or any place open to public view or hearing
  • Drinking any alcoholic beverage in public or any place open to public view
  • Urinating or defecating in public or any place open to public view
  • Littering, including discarding cans, bottles, cigarettes, condoms, or hypodermic needles other than in a proper trash can
  • Damaging or vandalizing another's property, including any light fixture, fence, gate, wall, or window
  • Applying graffiti to any public or private property, including any building, fence, wall, garage door, street sign, tree, pole, or vehicle
  • Congregating in any public place for the purpose of engaging in any conduct prohibited by this injunction, or any criminal activity
  • Intimidating, provoking, harassing, challenging, or carrying out any acts of retaliation, including, but not limited to, using abusive or vulgar language to harass any person (San Bernardino Police Department 1999).

You should consult with legal counsel about the requirements for obtaining restraining orders. It may also take a lot of time and effort to obtain the documentation necessary for a restraining order.

10. Mediating conflicts between prostitutes and the community. 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. [47] In one Vancouver, British Columbia community, community groups posted signs and maps requesting that prostitutes stay out of certain areas. [48] Obviously, it can be difficult to get prostitutes to comply with agreements.
11. Imposing curfews on prostitutes. Curfews can be imposed on prostitutes as a condition of either bail or probation. The purpose is to deny prostitutes the opportunity to work during peak hours. To be effective, police or corrections officials must monitor and enforce the curfews.
12. Helping prostitutes to quit. Enforcement strategies will not be successful without an array of social services to help prostitutes leave the streets. It is particularly important to break the connection between drug use and sex work. Moving toward and finally leaving the streets is a long and complex process, and services must be provided at the right time and in the proper sequence. [49] For example, meeting the basic needs of child care, housing, public benefits, and drug treatment should come before intensive job training or employment programs. Services should be easy for women to access and should have flexible appointment times, reasonable wait times, extended hours of operation, and record-keeping practices that are sensitive to many prostitutes' concerns for confidentiality. [50] They should also be specifically designed to address the women's needs in the context of their work as street prostitutes.§

§ The Prostitution Empowerment, Education, and Resources Society (PEERS) in Victoria, British Columbia helps women quit street prostitution in favor of mainstream employment. The program was specifically designed by and for women involved in prostitution who were deterred from using other non-prostitution-specific services (Rabinovitz and Strega 2004).

Key services include the following:

  • Drug and alcohol treatment. Outreach on the street is essential to funneling prostitutes into needed services. Fast-tracking placement into residential treatment is also critical when women indicate their readiness for change. [51]
  • Mental health treatment.
  • Housing. While housing is an obvious need for homeless prostitutes, many other prostitutes live in environments that put them at continued risk for drug use and violence. An array of housing options, including short-term shelters and long-term stable housing, is needed. [52]
  • Peer support systems. Women wishing to leave prostitution need to develop new identities and need skills to access, establish, and maintain networks of peers who are not involved with prostitution. [53]
  • Child care. Many women involved with prostitution are also single parents. Childcare is a critical issue to address for both treatment and employment objectives. [54]
  • Job training and employment.
  • Health care and confidential testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
  • Transportation.
  • Legal aid.

Some communities offer a service-and-support network through either precharge or postcharge diversion programs, and some even offer these programs on the street, with no formal connection to the criminal justice system. [55] Although these programs do not necessarily persuade many prostitutes to quit, they are essential for those motivated to do so, and they can be effective in reducing some of the risks to street prostitutes, such as sexually transmitted disease and assault. [56]

13. Encouraging prostitutes to report serious offenses to the police. Police in some jurisdictions work hard to develop a good rapport with street prostitutes to persuade them to report juvenile prostitutes, violent clients, client robbery, etc., and to give evidence against pimps.§ Outreach workers can also be instrumental in convincing prostitutes to cooperate with police on serious matters. Prostitutes who help the police may require extra protection because they risk violent retaliation.

§ Merseyside, England police developed a computer application to systematically collate reports of crime committed by clients so that this information can be used across the region (Penfold et al. 2004).

14. Helping prostitutes avoid dangerous clients and situations. Police in some jurisdictions distribute so-called "bad dates" (or "dodgy punters" in the United Kingdom) lists to street prostitutes, warning them to stay away from clients known to assault prostitutes. Police can also post descriptions of dangerous clients and their vehicles on bulletin boards, newsletters, and leaflets. In other places, the prostitutes themselves or outreach workers circulate this information. These lists have led to increased reporting of violent crime against prostitutes. [57]

Police might also support efforts to promote caution in dealing with clients by prostitutes who insist on continuing their trade. This might include encouraging prostitutes to do the following:

  • Control the locations where they take clients for service, avoiding dimly lit and unfamiliar places
  • Control negotiations with clients, setting clear limits for accepting or rejecting clients
  • Maintain prices and safe-sex practices
  • Work with a partner, copying down license plate numbers and agreeing to seek help if the other does not return within a specified time
  • Refrain from using drugs when working on the street (drug use reduces awareness, control of self, and control of the situation)
  • Carry a whistle or other attack prevention device
  • Not carry drugs or excessive cash [58]

The New Westminster (British Columbia) Police Service developed a voluntary forensic identification registry for prostitutes. In the event that women working the streets are abducted or go missing, police have a photograph, fingerprints, DNA sample, and physical description to use when investigating the disappearance. This effort greatly improved relations between police and prostitutes by demonstrating police concern for prostitutes' safety. The strategy also increased prostitutes' willingness to provide information on various crimes. The media's interest in this initiative may have also deterred potentially violent clients. [59]

Obviously, some people will object to police efforts to protect prostitutes, believing that doing so condones prostitution.

Targeting Clients

Clients are generally more easily deterred than prostitutes. [60] Almost any form of official or community intervention in clients' behavior is sufficient to deter most clients from patronizing street prostitutes, at least at a particular location. This offers some justification for focusing responses on clients. However, since there are many more potential clients than street prostitutes, deterring individual clients does not necessarily reduce the overall demand for street prostitution. [61] To deter potential clients, they must believe there is a high likelihood they will be caught and publicly identified.

15. Exposing clients to publicity. Community groups have organized to expose prostitution clients identity to 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. [62] 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 television (CCTV) cameras to discourage potential clients from hanging around. [63], †
† See Response Guide No. 4, Video Surveillance of Public Places for further information.

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 people are not unfairly implicated or accused in illegal activity.§§ Further, once a client has faced publicity from an initial arrest, he has little to lose, and subsequent threats of publicity are unlikely to be effective. [64]

§ In 2003 in Omaha, Nebraska, billboards with the slogan "If you are convicted of soliciting a prostitute, you will see your name here" publicized the names of six to 12 offenders at a time (Hughes 2004). In Akron, Ohio, the "Operation John Be Gone" website, which posted the photographs of men charged with soliciting a prostitute, drew more than 100,000 hits in its first year online (MacMillan 2005).

§§ See Persons (1996) for a thorough discussion of the effectiveness and legality of publicizing prostitution clients' names.

16. Notifying those with influence over clients' conduct. Employers, schools, the military, convention organizers, and other individuals or groups often exert significant informal influence over prostitution clients' conduct. You can leverage this influence by seeking such third parties' cooperation to discipline clients who come to police attention. This strategy is not intended merely to shame clients, but rather, to change their behavior through disciplinary systems outside the formal justice system. Keep in mind that some forms of discipline, such as employment termination, can be severe.
17. Restricting clients' ability to drive. The city of Portland, Oregon is widely credited for pioneering the use of vehicle forfeiture laws against prostitution clients. In Portland, most vehicles were returned to the owners under deferred prosecution arrangements, with low levels (about 1%) of clients re-offending. [65] Some jurisdictions have passed laws that allow judges to suspend or revoke the driving privileges of those convicted of patronizing prostitution. [66] This approach is intended to deter both potential clients and those who regularly search for, and have sexual transactions with, prostitutes in cars. Many drivers continue to drive without valid licenses, however, so some enforcement will likely be necessary.

Changing the Environment

18. Closing streets and alleys, diverting traffic, or regulating parking. 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 somewhere else—commonly to or home 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 indoor prostitutes. [67] For example, throughways can be closed at one end, two-way streets can be converted to one-way streets, speed bumps can be installed, and right turns can be prohibited to prevent drivers from circling the block. [68], § 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 residents and legitimate commerce in the area.

§ See Response Guide No. 2, Closing Streets and Alleys to Reduce Crime, for further discussion of how this response works.

19. Enforcing zoning, nuisance abatement, and business license regulations against properties used for prostitution. As noted previously, street prostitution markets depend on other businesses to support them. The police and other enforcement agencies can exert pressure on those businesses to discourage their support of street prostitution by enforcing civil laws and business regulations. Some communities prohibit motels and hotels from renting rooms for short periods (i.e., at hourly rates), and require them to record guests' identities through positive proof of identification, thus discouraging their use by prostitutes and clients. [69], † Zoning regulations that restrict the sorts of businesses that support street prostitution, such as adult entertainment, can be effective. Zoning restrictions have been key in the major redevelopment of Times Square in New York City, where street prostitution has significantly declined. [70] The police and private parties can file nuisance abatement actions against businesses that support prostitution. You should get advice and support from legal counsel to pursue these options.
† See Problem-Specific Guide No. 30, Disorder at Budget Motels, for further information.
20. Warning property owners about the use of their premises for prostitution. Many property owners unwittingly support street prostitution because they do not appreciate how their business practices enable it to flourish. You can remind them of their legal obligations, and provide them and their employees with specific training to help them prevent their properties from being used for prostitution. [71]
21. Redeveloping the area economy. 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.
22. Securing abandoned buildings. Street prostitutes and clients sometimes use abandoned buildings for sexual transactions. If rehabilitating or demolishing the buildings is not feasible, securing them can help reduce street prostitution and other offenses in the area. [72]
23. Enhancing surveillance with improved lighting and CCTV. Improved lighting reduces the attractiveness of certain areas for street prostitution because it reduces the privacy prostitutes and clients seek to negotiate and complete their transactions. [73] Motion-sensitive lighting is useful for secluded areas like alleys and doorways. CCTV can also deter some prostitutes or clients who want to avoid detection and simultaneously enhance the general public's perception of area safety, thereby drawing more legitimate activity there. [74], §

§ See Response Guides No. 4, Video Surveillance of Public Places and No. 8, Improving Street Lighting to Reduce Crime in Residential Areas, for further discussion of police use of CCTV and street lighting, respectively.

24. Providing trash cans. Providing trash cans for the proper disposal of hazardous and unsightly items (e.g., condoms and lubricants) can both reduce the public health hazard posed by the items and reduce the number of resident complaints. [75] The extent to which this will work depends on prostitutes' and johns' willingness to use the trash cans and on placing them near where sex acts occur.

Responses With Limited Effectiveness

25. Conducting sweeps. Sweeps 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 criminal justice system's integrity. It is not uncommon for police to arrest innocent people during sweeps.
26. Harassing and intimidating prostitutes. When 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.
27. Suspending or revoking government aid to prostitutes. Many street prostitutes receive government aid in one form or another (e.g., for housing, dependent children, unemployment insurance, and/or disability),but would not qualify for such if they reported their prostitution income. You might share arrest and intelligence information with government agencies providing the aid. [76] The threat of losing government aid might compel some prostitutes to quit. On the other hand, it might only deepen the financial plight of some prostitutes, further compelling them toward prostitution. For this approach to be viable, adequate social services must be available to help prostitutes. If you use this response, you should take care not to unduly harm any dependent children.
28. Establishing formal or informal red-light districts where street prostitution is tolerated. In most cases, the existence of red-light districts has not reduced the volume of street prostitution, the level of nuisance complaints, or the harm to prostitutes. [77] Creating tolerance zones for street prostitution implies some official approval. As is true with respect to most vices, official disapproval has at least a marginal deterrent effect. In many jurisdictions, this response is not viable because of legal restrictions or public opposition. Most European countries have found that expanding the zones in which prostitution can occur legally is typically accompanied by an increase in activity outside of the approved zones, as sex businesses try to evade regulation and those women who are not suited for working indoors continue to work on the streets. [78]
29. Legalizing and decriminalizing prostitution. The two most radical responses to street prostitution are legalization and decriminalization.§ Whatever their merits and drawbacks, neither approach is likely to be politically feasible in the foreseeable future in the United States, United Kingdom, or Canada.§§

§ Legalization implies that the government will regulate various aspects of prostitution, just as it regulates other forms of commerce. Decriminalization implies no government regulation.

§§ Prostitution itself is not illegal in either the United Kingdom or Canada, as it is in most of the United States, but nearly all forms of soliciting prostitution on the street are illegal, so the net effect is substantially the same—street prostitution is outlawed. Prostitution has been legalized in the Netherlands and recently decriminalized in New Zealand. In Sweden, selling sexual services is legal, but buying them is illegal. Some forms of indoor prostitution have been made legal in Victoria, Australia, but street prostitution remains illegal. The legalization of prostitution in several Nevada counties has not eliminated the problems associated with street prostitution in the cities of Reno and Las Vegas.

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