St.Petersburg Police Department
Scanning
Where there are people there will be prostitution. However, that does not mean that the community and the police department will tolerate it. St. Petersburg Police saw an increase in the calls regarding prostitution. The calls for service were "mostly in the main thoroughfare of the city." Police also received complaints about prostitution from businesses and residents. Some of the officers saw the problem firsthand. Presence of the prostitutes in the community increased other crimes associated with it. It also lowered the property values of the businesses and the residents. Visibility of the prostitutes attributed to decreased patronages of the businesses by locals and visitors. “Thirty …show more content…
Response
After the analysis faze was completed the special taskforce was formed. The taskforce members included the community, patrol officers, administrative officer and a nonprofit H.O.P.E (Healthy Opinions Promote Esteem). The goal of the taskforce was to find a solution that would deal with all three parts of the prostitution problem. First group targeted were the prostitutes. They arrested them using the undercover police officers. Eventually the offenders just returned to the area. Next thing done was the creation of the maps that showed the prostitution hotspots. After compiling the detailed maps of prostitution areas they once again arrested the offenders. However, this time they attached the map to their paperwork. If they were convicted of the crime the area represented on the map would be a no go zone that would as a condition of their probation. If they were seen in that zone while on probation could lead to revocation. The reason for why the victims prostituted themselves became apparent. To support their addiction to drugs. The taskforce used project H.O.P.E to help prostitutes break addiction. H.O.P.E is a residential center where the drug addicted …show more content…
The communities vigilance has resulted in 23.89% decrease in calls for prostitution related service. The number of reoffending “johns” is only four to date. Survey conducted after the project revealed that 82.5% of residents are cognizant of police effort to get rid of the problem. Overwhelming number of residents 86.58 concurred with the city’s and the polices view that the prostitution is not an victimless crime and where there is prostitution as a result other crimes will happened in effected area. The Taskforce has expanded to 65 officers and with assistance from Ameri-Corp is conducting two undercover sting operations twice a month. The neighborhood watch is also keeping vigilance and conducting their own patrols in problem areas. The problem of prostitution will never no away but it is a job that everyone has to participate if the community wants to keep it to a