U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

www.cops.usdoj.gov 

S t r e e t 

P r o s t i t u t i o n 

2 n d E d i t i o n 

by 

Michael S. Scott 

Kelly Dedel 

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides Series 

No. 2 
www.PopCenter.org 

Center for Problem-Oriented Policing 

Got a Problem? We’ve got answers! 

Log onto the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing website at 

www.popcenter.org for a wealth of information to help you deal 

more effectively with crime and disorder in your community, 

including: 

• Web-enhanced versions of all currently available Guides 

• Interactive training exercises 

• Online access to research and police practices 

• Online problem analysis module. 

Designed for police and those who work with them to address 

community problems, www.popcenter.org is a great resource in 

problem-oriented policing. 

Supported by the Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services, U.S. Department of Justice. 
Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides Series

Guide No. 2 

Street Prostitution 

2nd Edition 

Michael S. Scott 

Kelly Dedel 

This project was supported by cooperative agreements 

#1999CKWXK004 and #2005CKWXK001 by the Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. 

The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not 

necessarily represent the official position of the Department of Justice. 

References to specific companies, products, or services should not be 

considered as an endorsement thereof by the authors or the Justice 

Department. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement 

discussion of the issues. 

www.cops.usdoj.gov 

ISBN: 1-932582-72-X 

November 2006 

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series i 

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series 

The Problem-Specific Guides summarize knowledge about how 

police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime and 

disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and to 

improving the overall response to incidents, not to investigating 

offenses or handling specific incidents. Neither do they cover 

all of the technical details about how to implement specific 

responses. The guides are written for police—of whatever rank 

or assignment—who must address the specific problem the 

guides cover. The guides will be most useful to officers who: 

• Understand basic problem-oriented policing principles 

and methods. The guides are not primers in problemoriented policing. They deal only briefly with the initial 

decision to focus on a particular problem, methods to 

analyze the problem, and means to assess the results of a 

problem-oriented policing project. They are designed to help 

police decide how best to analyze and address a problem 

they have already identified. (A companion series of ProblemSolving Tools guides has been produced to aid in various 

aspects of problem analysis and assessment.) 

• Can look at a problem in depth. Depending on the 

complexity of the problem, you should be prepared to spend 

perhaps weeks, or even months, analyzing and responding to 

it. Carefully studying a problem before responding helps you 

design the right strategy, one that is most likely to work in 

your community. You should not blindly adopt the responses 

others have used; you must decide whether they are 

appropriate to your local situation. What is true in one place 

may not be true elsewhere; what works in one place may not 

work everywhere. 
ii Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• Are willing to consider new ways of doing police 

business. The guides describe responses that other police 

departments have used or that researchers have tested. 

While not all of these responses will be appropriate to your 

particular problem, they should help give a broader view of 

the kinds of things you could do. You may think you cannot 

implement some of these responses in your jurisdiction, 

but perhaps you can. In many places, when police have 

discovered a more effective response, they have succeeded 

in having laws and policies changed, improving the response 

to the problem. (A companion series of Response Guides has 

been produced to help you understand how commonly-used 

police responses work on a variety of problems.) 

• Understand the value and the limits of research 

knowledge. For some types of problems, a lot of useful 

research is available to the police; for other problems, 

little is available. Accordingly, some guides in this series 

summarize existing research whereas other guides illustrate 

the need for more research on that particular problem. 

Regardless, research has not provided definitive answers to 

all the questions you might have about the problem. The 

research may help get you started in designing your own 

responses, but it cannot tell you exactly what to do. This 

will depend greatly on the particular nature of your local 

problem. In the interest of keeping the guides readable, 

not every piece of relevant research has been cited, nor has 

every point been attributed to its sources. To have done so 

would have overwhelmed and distracted the reader. The 

references listed at the end of each guide are those drawn 

on most heavily; they are not a complete bibliography of 

research on the subject. 

• Are willing to work with others to find effective 

solutions to the problem. The police alone cannot 

implement many of the responses discussed in the guides. 

They must frequently implement them in partnership with 
About the Problem-Specific Guides Series iii 

other responsible private and public bodies including other 

government agencies, non-governmental organizations, 

private businesses, public utilities, community groups, 

and individual citizens. An effective problem-solver must 

know how to forge genuine partnerships with others 

and be prepared to invest considerable effort in making 

these partnerships work. Each guide identifies particular 

individuals or groups in the community with whom 

police might work to improve the overall response to that 

problem. Thorough analysis of problems often reveals 

that individuals and groups other than the police are in 

a stronger position to address problems and that police 

ought to shift some greater responsibility to them to do 

so. Response Guide No. 3, Shifting and Sharing Responsibility 

for Public Safety Problems, provides further discussion of this 

topic. 

The COPS Office defines community policing as “a policing 

philosophy that promotes and supports organizational 

strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime 

and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and 

police-community partnerships.” These guides emphasize 

problem-solving and police-community partnerships in the 

context of addressing specific public safety problems. For 

the most part, the organizational strategies that can facilitate 

problem-solving and police-community partnerships vary considerably 

and discussion of them is beyond the scope of these guides. 

These guides have drawn on research findings and police 

practices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, 

Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. 

Even though laws, customs and police practices vary from 

country to country, it is apparent that the police everywhere 

experience common problems. In a world that is becoming 

increasingly interconnected, it is important that police be 

aware of research and successful practices beyond the borders 

of their own countries. 
iv Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Each guide is informed by a thorough review of the research 

literature and reported police practice and is anonymously 

peer-reviewed by line police officers, police executives and 

researchers prior to publication. 

The COPS Office and the authors encourage you to provide 

feedback on this guide and to report on your own agency’s 

experiences dealing with a similar problem. Your agency 

may have effectively addressed a problem using responses 

not considered in these guides and your experiences and 

knowledge could benefit others. This information will be used 

to update the guides. If you wish to provide feedback and 

share your experiences it should be sent via e-mail to cops_ 

pubs@usdoj.gov. 

For more information about problem-oriented policing, visit 

the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing online at www. 

popcenter.org. This website offers free online access to: 

• the Problem-Specific Guides series 

• the companion Response Guides and Problem-Solving Tools series 

• instructional information about problem-oriented policing 

and related topics 

• an interactive problem-oriented policing training exercise 

• an interactive Problem Analysis Module 

• a manual for crime analysts 

• online access to important police research and practices 

• information about problem-oriented policing conferences 

and award programs. 
Acknowledgments v 

Acknowledgments 

The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police are produced by the 

Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, whose officers are 

Michael S. Scott (Director), Ronald V. Clarke (Associate 

Director) and Graeme R. Newman (Associate Director). 

While each guide has a primary author, other project team 

members, COPS Office staff and anonymous peer reviewers 

contributed to each guide by proposing text, recommending 

research and offering suggestions on matters of format and 

style. 

The project team that developed the guide series comprised 

Herman Goldstein (University of Wisconsin Law School), 

Ronald V. Clarke (Rutgers University), John E. Eck (University 

of Cincinnati), Michael S. Scott (University of Wisconsin Law 

School), Rana Sampson (Police Consultant), and Deborah 

Lamm Weisel (North Carolina State University). 

Members of the San Diego; National City, California; and 

Savannah, Georgia police departments provided feedback on 

the guides’ format and style in the early stages of the project. 

Cynthia E. Pappas oversaw the project for the COPS Office. 

Research for the guide was conducted at the Criminal Justice 

Library at Rutgers University under the direction of Phyllis 

Schultze. Suzanne Fregly edited this guide. 

Contents vii 

Contents 

About the Guide Series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i 

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v 

The Problem of Street Prostitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

What This Guide Does and Does Not Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Harms Caused by Street Prostitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

Moral and Nuisance Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Public Health Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Personal Safety Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Spillover-Effect Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Economic Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Civil Rights Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Police Integrity Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Factors Contributing to Street Prostitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Street Prostitutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Street Prostitutes’ Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

Pimps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 

Sexual Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Areas Where Street Prostitution Exists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Links Between Street Prostitution and Drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Understanding Your Local Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Asking the Right Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Police and Community Members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Street Prostitutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Street Prostitutes’ Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Pimps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Sexual Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Drug Links. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Current Responses to the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Measuring Your Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 
viii Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

General Principles for an Effective Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Specific Responses To Address Street Prostitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Deterring Prostitutes and Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Targeting Prostitutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Targeting Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 

Changing the Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 

Responses With Limited Effectiveness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 

Appendix: Summary of Responses to Street Prostitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 

About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 

Recommended Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 

Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 1 

The Problem of Street Prostitution 

What This Guide Does and Does Not Cover 

This guide addresses the problem of street prostitution, 

focusing on female prostitutes and male clients. It begins by 

describing the problem and reviewing factors that contribute 

to it. It then identifies a series of questions to help you 

analyze your local problem. Finally, it reviews responses to 

the problem, and what is known about them from evaluative 

research and practice. 

Street prostitution is only one of a number of sexual activityrelated problems the police must address. This guide is limited 

to addressing the particular harms street prostitution creates. 

Related problems not directly addressed in this guide include 

• consensual, unpaid sex in public places, including meeting 

places for anonymous sex among homosexuals 

• homosexual prostitution, also known as “hustling” (young 

homosexual prostitution is also known as the “chicken 

hawk trade”) 

• illegal immigration and forced prostitution (international 

trafficking in women and girls) 

• juvenile runaways drawn into prostitution 

• organized crime connections to prostitution 

• prostitution at truck stops or motels 

• prostitution through call girls, escort services, internet 

listings, and massage parlors, and at bars, hotels, and 

conventions 

• serial murders of prostitutes 

• solicitation by leaving calling cards in conspicuous public 

places (e.g., phone booths) 

• strip clubs in which strippers also engage in prostitution 

• transvestite prostitution. 
2 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ For example, in Sweden, 

prostitution is officially considered 

a form of sexual violence against 

women. Prostitutes do not risk 

legal penalties. The public strongly 

supports this policy, with an 80 

percent approval rate (Eckberg 2004). 

§§ The information in this section is 

drawn from many sources, not all of 

which are cited. Among the sources 

most heavily relied on are Benson 

and Matthews (1995); Cohen (1980); 

Matthews (1993); May, Edmunds, 

and Hough (1999); Sterk and Elifson 

(1990); van Gelder and Kaplan 

(1992); Weidner (2001); and Weitzer 

(2000). 

Some of these related problems are covered in other guides in 

this series, all of which are listed at the end of this guide. For 

the most up-to-date listing of current and future guides, see 

www.popcenter.org. 

There are widely different perspectives on prostitution. Some 

view the prostitutes as primarily responsible for the problem; 

some view the clients as responsible, and the prostitutes 

as victims.

§ Others view prostitution as a private matter in 

which the state should not intervene. Community morals 

and beliefs about how the law should regulate morality 

will affect how any particular community addresses street 

prostitution. This guide does not adopt any particular moral 

perspective: It is intended to objectively inform you and other 

policymakers about the effectiveness and consequences of 

various approaches to controlling street prostitution. Before 

discussing response options, a general overview of the 

problem is provided.§§ 

Harms Caused by Street Prostitution 

Street prostitution varies across the individual prostitutes 

involved and their commitment to prostitution, the market 

size, the community’s tolerance levels, the degree to which 

prostitutes are organized, and the relationship of prostitution 

to drug use and trafficking. Street prostitution accounts for 

perhaps only 10 to 20 percent of all prostitution, but it has 

the most visible negative impact on the community. 

The following are among the many reasons why the police 

should be concerned about street prostitution.1 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 3 

Moral and Nuisance Concerns 

• Prostitution offends some citizens’ moral standards. 

• Prostitution is a nuisance to passersby and to nearby 

residents and businesses. 

• Prostitutes and clients offend uninvolved people in the area 

when they solicit them. 

• Juveniles, less capable of making informed choices, may 

become prostitutes. 

Public Health Concerns 

• Prostitutes and clients may spread sexually transmitted 

diseases such as syphilis, herpes, and AIDS.

§ 

• Used condoms, syringes, and other paraphernalia left on the 

ground are unsightly and potentially hazardous. 

Bob Heimberger 

Used condoms and syringes commonly found on the ground in street 

prostitution areas are unsightly and potentially hazardous. 

• Prostitutes who do not have access to proper facilities may 

urinate, defecate, or bathe in public. 

§ Contrary to popular belief, 

prostitution has not been 

demonstrated to be a primary 

means of HIV transmission, at least 

not in the United States, largely 

because most street prostitution 

sex acts are oral rather than 

vaginal (oral transmission is less 

likely), most prostitutes insist that 

clients use condoms (less true of 

drug-dependent prostitutes), and 

transmission is more difficult from 

female to male. Of course, fear of 

contracting HIV has likely changed 

the sex practices of some prostitutes 

and clients. HIV transmission 

among prostitutes is more likely to 

occur from sharing needles for drug 

injections (Weitzer 2000). 
4 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Personal Safety Concerns 

• Clients may harm prostitutes. 

• Clients or prostitutes may be defrauded, robbed, or 

assaulted. 

• Pimps may financially and physically exploit prostitutes. 

Spillover-Effect Concerns 

• Street prostitution and street drug markets are often linked. 

• Prostitution may provide the seedbed for organized crime. 

• Prostitutes create parking and traffic problems where they 

congregate. 

• Prostitution attracts strangers and criminals to a 

neighborhood. 

Economic Concerns 

• Legitimate businesses may lose customers who avoid the 

area because of prostitution. 

• Prostitutes’ presence may negatively affect the area 

economy, reducing property values and limiting 

property use. 

Civil Rights Concerns 

• Prostitutes, as citizens, have rights that need to be protected. 

Police Integrity Concerns 

• Policing prostitution creates special opportunities for 

police officers to engage in unethical conduct, such as 

taking payments in exchange for nonenforcement, because 

prostitutes, pimps, and clients are in weak positions to 

complain about police misconduct.2 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 5 

Factors Contributing to Street Prostitution 

Understanding the factors that are known to contribute to 

your problem will help you frame your own local analysis 

questions, determine good effectiveness measures, recognize 

key intervention points, and select an appropriate set of 

responses for your particular problem. The literature on 

street prostitution provides a general picture of street 

prostitutes, clients, pimps, sexual transactions, areas 

where street prostitution thrives, and links between street 

prostitution and drugs. 

Street Prostitutes 

Street prostitutes have lower status than indoor prostitutes. 

They are often in some state of personal decline (e.g., running 

away from abusive situations, becoming drug-dependent, 

deteriorating psychologically, and/or getting less physically 

attractive).3 Most have social, economic, and health problems. 

Most first turn to prostitution at a young age, often before 

they are 18.4 

Street prostitutes are not equally committed to prostitution: 

some are deeply committed for financial and lifestyle reasons; 

some are committed only due to drug dependency; and some 

are weakly committed, engaging in prostitution because it is 

the easiest way for them to make some money. Their inability 

to find adequately paying work elsewhere is the most common 

reason prostitutes give to explain their choice to work on the 

street.5 Many prostitutes try to leave the streets, although they 

often return and then leave again. Most return to prostitution 

because their limited education and lack of skills make finding 

employment very difficult. Without a means to support 

themselves and their children, they may think staying on the 

streets is less risky than leaving prostitution.6 
6 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

The typical street prostitute works six to eight hours a day, 

five to six days a week, and has three to five clients a night.7 

Street prostitutes’ lives are organized principally around 

prostitution itself, and around maneuvering through the 

legal system. It is a cycle of engaging in prostitution, getting 

arrested, going to jail, paying fines, and returning to the street. 

Some street prostitutes are highly mobile, traveling from one 

city to another, sometimes on a regular circuit, or when they 

think the risks are too high in one city or the money is better 

in another. 

Although most sexual encounters do not involve violence, 

most street prostitutes report having been criminally 

assaulted at least once by clients.

8 A small percentage of 

clients are likely responsible for most of the violence 

committed against prostitutes. The pattern of violence in 

pimp-prostitute relationships is similar to that of domestic 

violence. Prostitutes do not report most assaults to the police 

because they either fear retaliation by pimps or believe the 

police will not take the matter seriously, or will charge them 

for soliciting.

9 Both prostitutes and those who assault them 

may believe prostitutes are not entitled to the criminal justice 

systems’ normal protections.

10 

Street Prostitutes’ Clients 

Prostitution clients, typically referred to as “johns” or 

“tricks,” are attracted to the illicit nature of the encounter, 

desire sex acts that regular partners do not provide, view sex 

as merely a commodity, and/or lack interest in or access to 

conventional relationships.

11 Others are drawn to the fact 

that no commitment is required, and view these interactions 

as less risky than having an affair.

12 Clients’ decision to 

solicit a prostitute is influenced by availability of prostitutes, 

knowledge of where to find them, access to money, perceived 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 7 

risk of getting caught or contracting disease, and ease of 

securing services. Clients gather such information in a variety 

of ways: from trial and error; from personal recommendations 

from others (including friends, bartenders, taxi drivers, and 

hotel workers); and, increasingly, from information posted on 

internet websites. 

Somewhere around 10 to 20 percent of men admit they have 

paid for sex, but only about 1 percent pay for sex regularly.

13 

While this is still a large number of potential clients, it is 

considerably lower than some earlier estimates based on 

flawed research methods. The characteristics of men arrested 

for soliciting vary considerably and do not form any clear 

patterns.

14 Many seek to rationalize their conduct to themselves 

and others. When stopped by police, clients often try to justify 

their behavior by telling a sob story of personal loss, or will 

admit to cruising but not soliciting, stating they were just 

curious.

15 Others resist the idea that prostitution is immoral. 

Clients are more easily deterred than prostitutes.

16 They are 

more readily ashamed of their behavior, and fear harming 

their public reputation or their standing in their personal lives. 

Consequently, they fear being identified publicly more than 

being fined for their conduct. 

Pimps 

It is unclear what percentage of street prostitutes have pimps; 

prostitutes are reluctant to talk to anyone about their pimps, 

and it is difficult for police to make cases against pimps. Pimps 

recruit and socialize prostitutes into the prostitution subculture 

by appealing to either their desire for money or their desire for 

what they believe will be a glamorous and exciting lifestyle.

17 
8 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ One study found, however, that 

women with pimps experienced higher 

levels of client violence than those 

without pimps. Women with pimps 

tended to work in more dangerous 

areas and take more risks because of 

pressure to earn a certain amount of 

money (Norton-Hawk 2004). 

Pimps seldom procure clients for prostitutes, because clients 

do not typically want to associate with anyone other than the 

prostitute. Pimps do not offer prostitutes much protection 

against client violence, but do offer them protection against 

assault by other pimps.

§ Although classic pimp relationships 

still exist in both the United States and the United Kingdom, 

many men with serious drug addictions force their girlfriends 

into prostitution to support their drug habits.

18 

Pimps use violence and drug dependency as means to control 

prostitutes. Many pimps resemble the batterers in domestic 

violence situations, and women under their control often react 

similarly to domestic violence victims.

19 They may express 

love and admiration for their pimps and may feel they deserve 

the violence. Pimps control both their freedom and their 

finances. By some estimates, pimps take 60 to 70 percent of 

prostitutes’ earnings. 

Sexual Transactions 

The prices for sex acts vary a little from community to 

community. Depending on how desperate the prostitutes are 

for money, they typically charge $20 to $50 for oral sex, and 

$50 to $100 for sexual intercourse. Among crack-addicted 

prostitutes, the price can be as low as the market price for a 

single rock of crack cocaine. The typical sexual transaction 

takes around 10 minutes in a vehicle (usually for oral sex), and 

around 25 minutes indoors. 

Areas Where Street Prostitution Exists 

Street prostitution markets go through stages of 

development—they emerge, expand, stabilize, and disappear.

20 

Sometimes they emerge by accident, when a few prostitutes 

happen upon a new location; sometimes they emerge because 

of changes in an area’s traffic or commercial patterns (e.g., 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 9 

new roadways or new businesses such as adult entertainment 

establishments); and sometimes they emerge because police 

enforcement displaced them. It is important that an area be 

known for street prostitution so clients will know where to 

look. 

Street prostitution is more prevalent in run-down 

neighborhoods. Those that are populated heavily by 

unattached males are more vulnerable to street prostitution 

than those with a lot of women, families, or elderly residents, 

because the likelihood of vocal community opposition is 

lower. For street prostitution to thrive, the surrounding 

neighborhood cannot be too crime-ridden or appear too 

threatening to potential clients. Consequently, it is often 

found in areas that are marginal or in transition, rather than 

in thoroughly blighted areas. However, the emergence of 

street prostitution will almost certainly speed up decline. 

Neighborhood redevelopment or gentrification frequently 

prompts strong community opposition to street prostitution, 

and clearly drives much of the pressure on the police to 

control it. 

Street prostitution areas are typically small, less than a square 

mile. Larger cities usually have several such areas. They are 

typically industrial sites; declining residential areas; those near 

major thoroughfares, including tunnels, bridges, or airport 

access roads; or those near transportation hubs, such as 

train and bus stations. Street prostitution flourishes around 

convention centers and hotels, especially when mostly male 

conventions are held. 
10 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Street prostitution thrives in areas where it does not conflict 

with legitimate business, but rather, supports and is supported 

by that business. The following foster street prostitution: 

• places where sexual transactions can occur, such as 

cheap motels and hotels, dimly lit parking lots, alleys, and 

abandoned buildings 

Bob Heimberger 

Street prostitution often thrives in areas where there are cheap motels 

and hotels. 

• places where prostitutes can take a break, such as coffee 

shops or bars 

• places near a street drug market, so prostitutes and clients 

can readily buy drugs 

• places offering escape avenues from the police and 

dangerous clients 

• roads that allow drivers to slow down or stop, ideally where 

the driver’s side of the vehicle is closest to the curb. 
The Problem of Street Prostitution 11 

Bob Morris 

Street prostitution thrives along roads where prostitutes can talk 

to drivers from the curbside. 

Prostitutes usually take clients to places that minimize the 

risk of violence and ensure that transactions occur without 

incident.21 These places are often near the street where the 

negotiation occurred so that the amount of time required for 

each transaction is limited. Most are out of sight of passersby 

but not so secluded that prostitutes will be unable to attract 

attention if they need help. 

Links Between Street Prostitution and Drugs 

Street prostitution and street drug markets are often closely 

linked, supporting and reinforcing one another.

22 Many 

street prostitutes use illegal drugs, mainly methamphetamine, 

cocaine, or heroin. Many female serious drug users turn 

to prostitution at some point to finance their habit. Some 

prostitutes develop drug habits before turning to prostitution, 

while others start using drugs as part of the street prostitution 

lifestyle. Prostitutes are a significant customer base for streetlevel drug dealers. 
12 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Crack cocaine markets drive down the price of street 

prostitution, as some prostitutes, desperate to buy drugs, sell 

sex cheaply. Other prostitutes resent them for driving down 

prices or permitting sex without condoms, and pimps punish 

them for withholding their earnings to buy drugs. Drugdependent prostitutes are more vulnerable to violence and 

more likely to rob their clients. In summary, where drugs and 

street prostitution are linked, street prostitution becomes less 

predictable and more dangerous. 
Understanding Your Local Problem 13 

Understanding Your Local Problem 

The information provided above is only a generalized 

description of street prostitution. You must combine the 

basic facts with a more specific understanding of your local 

problem. Analyzing the local problem carefully will help you 

design a more effective response strategy. 

Stakeholders 

Police are not solely responsible for addressing this 

problem. In addition to criminal justice agencies, the 

following groups have an interest in the street prostitution 

problem, and you should consider the contribution they 

might make to gathering information about the problem 

and responding to it: 

• elected and appointed local government officials 

• public health agencies 

• prostitutes’ support organizations 

• social service agencies 

• business associations 

• tourism and convention promotion bureaus 

• neighborhood associations 

• traffic engineering departments. 

Asking the Right Questions 

The following are some critical questions you should ask in 

analyzing your particular problem of street prostitution, even 

if the answers are not always readily available. Your answers 

to these and other questions will help you choose the most 

appropriate set of responses later on. 
14 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ The Raleigh (North Carolina) 

Police Department conducted a 

problem-solving project using this 

guide’s first edition. Refer to Weisel 

(2004) for an excellent example of 

adapting the processes described here 

to local conditions. The report also 

contains useful sample survey tools 

for prostitutes and clients. 

There are many ways to enlist community members in the 

task of gathering information to document the problem’s 

scope.

23 These include using handheld video cameras to 

record activity, taking guided walks with police to identify 

areas where residents feel unsafe, highlighting trouble spots 

on neighborhood maps, and using data collection forms to 

record the date, time, and nature of events they witness. 

Police and Community Members 

• How concerned is the police department about street 

prostitution? How concerned is the community? What 

groups are particularly concerned, and why? What specific 

concerns do they express? 

• How organized and active are community members who 

oppose street prostitution? What street prostitution level are 

they willing to tolerate? 

Street Prostitutes§ 

• Does street prostitution take only one form (e.g., female 

prostitutes and male clients), or are there several different 

forms (e.g., homosexual or transvestite prostitution)? 

• What do you know about the prostitutes (e.g., age, gender, 

race, criminal history, social service history, substance abuse 

history, residence)? 

• Do street prostitutes commit crimes against clients (e.g., 

robbery or theft)? Are street prostitutes crime victims? 

• How committed are prostitutes to prostitution? How 

committed are they to a particular location? 

• How many prostitutes have tried to leave the streets before? 

What drew them back? What additional services could have 

supported their decision to leave? 
Understanding Your Local Problem 15 

Street Prostitutes’ Clients 

• What do you know about the clients (e.g., age, race, 

occupation, socioeconomic status, marital status, criminal 

history, residence)? 

• How committed are clients to prostitution? How committed 

are they to soliciting prostitutes on the street or in a 

particular area? 

• How often do you rearrest clients for soliciting prostitutes? 

Pimps 

• Do the prostitutes work for pimps who profit from their 

income? 

• How many prostitutes do pimps manage? 

• Are pimps well-known to police? If so, how many pimps 

operate in the jurisdiction? 

• Is there pimp competition in prostitute control? 

Sexual Transactions 

• How, specifically, do street prostitutes and clients negotiate 

and complete sexual transactions? Do clients solicit 

prostitutes on foot or from a vehicle? Where do the sexual 

transactions take place? 

• Do prostitutes and clients take precautions to prevent 

sexually transmitted disease? 

Environment 

• Does street prostitution take place in more than one area? 

What conditions make the area(s) attractive for street 

prostitution? If street prostitution occurs in several areas, 

how are they similar and different? 
16 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• What area businesses does street prostitution harm? 

• What area businesses support and/or benefit from street 

prostitution? 

• Is the street prostitution market in each area old or new? 

Has it changed in size recently? If so, why? 

• Do street prostitution areas have a reputation as being 

dangerous or safe for clients? 

• Are street prostitution areas isolated, or busy with other 

activities? 

• What other types of crime occur in the area? How much is 

related to street prostitution? 

• If street prostitution were forced out of a target area, where 

would you predict it might reappear, and why? 

Drug Links 

• To what extent are street prostitutes, clients, and pimps 

engaged in drug sales or use? 

• Are street prostitution and street drug markets near each 

other? 

• Do street prostitutes exchange sex directly for drugs? 

Current Responses to the Problem 

• What is the police department’s current policy in dealing 

with street prostitution? What is the prosecutor’s current 

policy regarding prostitution-related offenses? What are 

the typical sentences handed out to those convicted? Do 

the prostitutes and clients complete those sentences? What 

effect, if any, does the imposition of a sentence have on 

subsequent prostitution involvement? 

• What responses do police officers use, other than arrest 

and prosecution? Are any of these responses especially 

effective? 

• What social, health, and substance-abuse treatment services 

are available to help prostitutes? Are prostitutes using 

available services? 
Understanding Your Local Problem 17 

Measuring Your Effectiveness 

You should take measures of your problem before you 

implement responses, to determine how serious the problem 

is, and after you implement them, to determine whether they 

have been effective. Measurement allows you to determine to 

what degree your efforts have succeeded and suggests how 

you might modify your responses if they are not producing 

the intended results. There are various ways to quantify 

the size and scope of the problem to establish a baseline. 

You could track the total number of police contacts with 

prostitutes in the past 12 months, the number of prostitutes 

regularly seen or cautioned in an area, or the average number 

of women working on any given night. These data will be 

useful for different purposes: to estimate social service needs, 

as a point of reference for enforcement operations, or as a 

measure of police effectiveness.

24, § For more detailed guidance 

on measuring effectiveness, see the companion guide to this 

series, Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide for 

Police Problem-Solvers. 

The following are potentially useful measures of the 

effectiveness of responses to street prostitution: 

• reduced number of citizen complaints or calls for service 

about street prostitution 

• reduced number of prostitutes visible on the streets at 

particular times 

• increased transaction times for decoy officers trying to 

negotiate acts of prostitution 

• reduced arrests of repeat offenders (both prostitutes and 

clients)§§ 

• reduced recidivism by both prostitutes and clients 

• changes in service prices for prostitutes§§§ 

• reduced traffic congestion in areas where curb-crawling (or 

“kerb-crawling,” in the United Kingdom) is a problem 

§ The Deter and Identify Sex Trade 

Consumers database, accessed by 

36 police agencies across Canada 

and the United States, provides 

information on prostitutes and clients 

to support police investigations 

[Vancouver (British Columbia) Police 

Department Vice Unit 2002]. To be 

most effective, as many jurisdictions 

as possible need to use and receive 

information from multijurisdiction 

databases. In addition, data fields 

must be sufficiently detailed and data 

entry must be monitored for quality 

control. 

§§ Depending on the response 

strategy, arrests (and rearrests) of 

prostitutes and clients may increase 

initially. Over time, if the responses 

are effective, you should observe a 

reduction in the number of arrests. 

§§§ Responses that reduce the 

number of prostitutes working in an 

area tend to drive prices up, whereas 

responses that reduce the number of 

clients soliciting in a particular area 

tend to drive prices down. 
18 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• reduced volume of discarded condoms, syringes, and other 

prostitution-related paraphernalia 

• reduced total reported crime in target areas compared with 

control areas (keeping in mind that changes may be due 

to other factors, and that reported crime does not always 

correlate with actual crime). 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 19 

Responses to the Problem of Street 

Prostitution 

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 
20 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ 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). 

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. 

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 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 21 

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. 

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.

§§ 

§ See Response Guide No. 1, The 

Benefits and Consequences of Police 

Crackdowns, for further discussion of 

how crackdowns work. 

§§ The Cleveland (England) Police 

Department’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). 
22 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ 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.” 

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. 

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 reoffending, and to deter potential clients. The campaigns’ 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 23 

deterrent value wears off after time, however. In highvolume 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.” 
24 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

3. Relaxing the regulation of indoor prostitution 

venues. Whether changes in enforcement levels against 

indoor prostitution (e.g., massage parlors, call girls, bar 

§ See Problem-Specific Guide No. girls, and escort services) will affect street prostitution 

38, The Exploitation of Trafficked depends on how easily prostitutes can move back and 

Women. 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 indoors 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.

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. 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 25 

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 moreremote 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 

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 

§ 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). 
26 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

is intended to intimidate prostitutes and clients, and 

to demonstrate the community’s resolve against street 

§ See Campbell (2001) for specific prostitution. You must guard against overzealous 

guidance on developing community community conduct that violates prostitutes’ rights. In 

leadership skills to address addition to the risk of vigilantism, police should recognize 

prostitution and a variety of other that some community protests do not necessarily reflect nuisance problems. 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 

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. 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 27 

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 
28 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

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 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 29 

• 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 
30 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ 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). 

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.

§ 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 31 

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 
32 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ 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). 

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. 

14. Helping prostitutes avoid dangerous clients and 

situations. Police in some jurisdictions distribute socalled “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 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 33 

• 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. 
34 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ 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. 

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 

Some police agencies and local governments have 

publicized the names and photographs of clients who 

are either arrested for and/or convicted of prostitutionrelated 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 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 35 

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 
36 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

§ See Response Guide No. 2, Closing 

Streets and Alleys to Reduce Crime, 

for further discussion of how this 

response works. 

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. 

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. 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 37 

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 Guide No. 4, Video 

Surveillance of Public Places, for further 

discussion of police use of CCTV. 
38 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

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), 
Responses to the Problem of Street Prostitution 39 

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. 

Appendix: Appendix A 41 

Appendix: Summary of Responses to 

Street Prostitution 

The table below summarizes the responses to street 

prostitution, the mechanism by which they are intended to 

work, the conditions under which they ought to work best, 

and some factors you should consider before implementing 

a particular response. 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. 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

Deterring Prostitutes and Clients 

1 20 Enforcing laws 

prohibiting 

soliciting, 

patronizing, and 

loitering for the 

purposes of 

prostitution 

Temporarily 

removes 

prostitutes and 

clients from the 

streets 

...there are followup programs to 

help prostitutes 

quit or switch to 

indoor venues, 

and enforcement 

is combined with 

other effective 

responses 

Strategy is expensive; 

has only a shortterm impact; may 

increase prostitution 

by displacing the 

problem to new 

locations, and 

by compelling 

prostitutes to work 

more to pay fines 
42 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

1a 22 Enforcing laws 

prohibiting 

prostitution and the 

solicitation thereof 

Temporarily 

removes 

prostitutes and 

clients from 

the streets; 

increases 

the costs of 

business; 

deters arrested 

clients from reoffending 

...a prosecution 

will result in 

meaningful 

sanctions against 

the prostitute, 

and the pool of 

potential clients is 

relatively small 

Strategy is expensive; 

difficult to obtain 

admissible evidence; 

jail time is usually 

limited or none; 

discourages 

prostitutes from 

calling police when 

they are victims; 

creates additional 

incentives to engage 

in prostitution to pay 

fines; prosecutors 

may elect not to 

prosecute; the 

population of 

potential clients is 

large enough that 

general deterrence is 

difficult to achieve 

solely by arrest 

strategies; arresting 

clients requires a 

sufficient number 

of female police 

officers; undercover 

assignment not 

popular among police 

1b 22 Enforcing laws 

prohibiting conduct 

associated with 

prostitution and the 

solicitation thereof 

Deters 

prostitutes from 

soliciting and 

clients from 

searching for 

prostitutes on 

the streets, 

without 

requiring proof 

of actual sexual 

transactions 

...a prosecution 

will result in 

meaningful 

sanctions against 

the prostitute, 

and the pool of 

potential clients is 

relatively small 

Legality (courts 

have struck down 

some such laws for 

being either vague 

or overly broad); 

the population of 

potential clients is 

large enough that 

general deterrence is 

difficult to achieve 

solely by arrest 

strategies 
Appendix 43 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

1c 22 Intensively enforcing 

prostitution laws 

against prostitutes 

and/or clients for 

short periods 

Temporarily 

removes 

prostitutes from 

the streets; 

deters potential 

clients from 

...there is media 

coverage, and 

the campaign 

is followed by 

changes to the 

environment 

Media coverage can 

have the opposite 

effect of promoting 

prostitution 

by advertising 

the location of 

frequenting the 

area 

where the street 

prostitution occurs 

prostitution strolls; 

may increase the risk 

of harm faced by 

prostitutes by forcing 

them to work in 

unfamiliar areas 

2 23 Establishing a 

highly visible police 

presence 

Discourages 

both prostitutes 

and clients from 

negotiations 

...it is followed 

by changes to the 

environment where 

street prostitution 

Labor-intensive; 

creates the 

perception that the 

area is unsafe 

occurs 

3 24 Relaxing the 

regulation of indoor 

prostitution venues 

Gives street 

prostitutes 

some incentive 

to relocate 

...street prostitutes 

are able to work 

indoors 

May be perceived 

as condoning 

prostitution; indoor 

venues are of serious 

indoors concern to police for 

their role in sexual 

exploitation of 

trafficked women 

4 24 Enhancing fines/ 

penalties for 

prostitution-related 

offenses committed 

within specified 

high-activity zones 

Displaces 

the street 

prostitution 

market from a 

particular area 

...it is followed 

by changes to the 

environment where 

street prostitution 

occurs 

Displacement may 

be to areas where the 

impact is even worse 

5 25 Banning prostitutes 

or clients from 

certain areas 

Reduces the 

opportunities 

for prostitutes 

and clients 

to solicit and 

patronize 

...there is adequate 

monitoring of bans 

and good physical 

descriptions of 

offenders 

Requires legal 

authority; may 

displace prostitutes 

to new areas outside 

the prohibited zone, 

which, if remote, 

may prove more 

hazardous to them 
44 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

6 25 Using community 

justice panels and 

community service 

sentences in lieu 

of incarceration or 

fines 

Creates 

meaningful 

consequences 

for prostitutes’ 

and clients’ 

offending; 

consumes 

prostitutes’ time 

...there is adequate 

monitoring of 

compliance 

with sentences, 

and community 

members are willing 

to serve on panels 

Requires monitoring 

by the court and 

corrections officials 

7 25 Enlisting community 

members to provide 

surveillance or to 

publicly protest 

against prostitutes or 

clients 

Creates the 

impression that 

offenders will 

be constantly 

monitored 

and reported; 

increases the 

pressure on 

public officials 

to address the 

...the community 

is willing to sustain 

protests and 

remain lawful, and 

police maintain 

supervision and 

oversight 

Risks of 

overzealousness 

(vigilantism); 

displacement to 

other locations; 

street patrols require 

committed leaders to 

recruit, organize, and 

mobilize members 

problem 

8 26 Educating and 

warning high-risk 

prostitute and client 

populations 

Deters young 

people from 

getting into 

prostitution; 

discourages 

potential clients; 

education 

programs for 

arrested clients 

deter repeat 

offending 

...there is evidence 

of the recruitment 

of prostitutes from 

target populations, 

the messages are 

carefully tailored to 

the target audience, 

and there are 

adequate resources 

to run education 

programs 

Young people 

at seriously high 

risk usually have 

several critical social 

problems that require 

attention if they are 

to be kept out of 

prostitution; costs of 

running programs; 

adequate deterrence 

may be achieved by 

any form of official 

intervention; schools 

do not target clients 

at highest risk of 

violence 
Appendix 45 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

Targeting Prostitutes 

9 28 Serving restraining 

orders/civil 

injunctions against 

habitual prostitutes 

Effectively 

controls and 

deters the 

activities of 

large numbers 

of prostitutes 

working in 

a particular 

...complainants 

are willing to file 

for court orders, 

and there are small 

numbers of chronic 

offenders 

Labor-intensive and 

costly to document 

people and activities; 

legality varies by 

jurisdiction 

area; conserves 

police resources 

by focusing 

on the most 

problematic 

offenders 

10 29 Mediating conflicts 

between prostitutes 

and the community 

Keeps 

prostitutes 

away from 

the areas of 

highest citizen 

complaints, or 

from engaging 

in the most 

...the community 

is willing to tolerate 

some level of street 

prostitution 

Difficult to get 

prostitutes to adhere 

to agreements 

offensive 

behaviors 

11 30 Imposing curfews 

on prostitutes 

Restricts 

prostitutes’ 

working hours 

...there are short 

periods during 

which street 

prostitution is most 

prevalent 

Requires a judicial 

order as a condition 

of bail or probation; 

requires monitoring 

by police or 

corrections officials 
46 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

12 30 Helping prostitutes 

to quit 

Provides 

prostitutes with 

support services 

to enable 

them to leave 

prostitution; 

health screening 

and education 

prevents 

the spread 

of sexually 

transmitted 

diseases 

...programs are 

prostitutionspecific and easily 

accessible, and 

there are sufficient 

sanctions for 

noncompliance 

Street prostitutes, 

especially juveniles 

and those managed 

by pimps, are difficult 

to persuade; privacy 

considerations; 

prostitutes can be 

hard to reach and/or 

reluctant to accept 

treatment (e.g., 

for fear of losing 

custody of their 

children) 

13 32 Encouraging 

prostitutes to report 

serious offenses to 

the police 

Improves the 

police ability 

to investigate 

serious offenses 

that might 

otherwise go 

unreported 

and/or 

unsolved 

...police can 

establish a sufficient 

level of trust 

among prostitutes 

Prostitutes’ giving 

evidence against 

pimps increases 

the risks of violent 

retaliation 

14 32 Helping prostitutes 

avoid dangerous 

clients and situations 

Reduces the 

risk of physical 

assaults to 

prostitutes 

...police can 

establish a sufficient 

level of trust 

among prostitutes 

Police can be accused 

of condoning 

prostitution 

Targeting Clients 

15 34 Exposing clients to 

publicity 

Shames clients 

to deter 

them from 

re-offending; 

discourages 

potential clients 

...the community 

and media support 

public shaming, and 

most clients solicit 

from vehicles 

Media reluctance 

to publicize 

information deemed 

unnewsworthy; 

risks arousing 

suspicions against 

innocent people; 

legal restrictions; 

privacy concerns; 

the potential 

for geographic 

displacement; 

deterrent value is lost 

after first exposure 
Appendix 47 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

16 35 Notifying those 

with influence over 

clients’ conduct 

Creates 

meaningful 

consequences 

for clients’ 

conduct 

...clients are 

influenced by 

informal social 

controls 

The penalty (e.g., 

getting fired) may be 

harsher than some 

believe is fair 

17 35 Restricting clients’ 

ability to drive 

Deters curbcrawling ...most clients 

solicit from vehicles 

Legal challenges and 

restrictions; low rates 

of compliance with 

license suspensions 

and revocations 

Changing the Environment 

18 35 Closing streets and 

alleys, diverting 

traffic, or regulating 

parking 

Increases the 

difficulty for 

clients to find 

and negotiate 

with prostitutes 

...the community 

the changes affect 

supports them, and 

most clients solicit 

from vehicles 

Potentially costly; can 

harm residential and 

legitimate commercial 

traffic; may lock the 

problem in rather 

than forcing it 

out, by creating an 

inaccessible enclave; 

slowing traffic may 

be conducive to 

curb-crawling 

19 36 Enforcing zoning, 

nuisance abatement, 

and business license 

regulations against 

properties used for 

prostitution 

Restricts the 

availability of 

locations for 

sexual activities; 

discourages the 

use of motels 

and hotels for 

prostitution 

...sexual 

transactions take 

place on properties 

subject to 

regulation 

Civil law processes 

can be cumbersome 

and unfamiliar to 

police; requires 

support from 

government lawyers 

20 37 Warning property 

owners about 

the use of their 

premises for 

prostitution 

Improves 

property 

owners’ capacity 

or willingness 

to prohibit 

prostitutionrelated activities 

on their 

property 

...sexual 

transactions take 

place on those 

properties 

Some property 

owners may feel they 

are being unfairly 

accused 
48 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

21 37 Redeveloping the 

area economy 

Promotes 

legitimate 

activity to 

displace 

illegitimate 

activity 

...improvements 

will substantially 

change the 

conditions that 

allow street 

prostitution to 

flourish 

Costly in the short 

term; potential 

displacement to more 

vulnerable areas 

22 37 Securing abandoned 

buildings 

Keeps 

prostitutes 

and clients 

from having 

private places 

for sexual 

transactions 

...sexual 

transactions take 

place in abandoned 

buildings 

Costs of securing 

buildings; potential 

displacement to other 

locations 

23 37 Enhancing 

surveillance with 

improved lighting 

and CCTV 

Improves 

the area’s 

appearance; 

improves 

natural 

surveillance 

to deter 

prostitution 

...lighting is 

inadequate, and 

sexual transactions 

take place in dark, 

secluded places 

Costs of lighting; 

may backfire 

by increasing 

perceptions of safety 

and drawing more 

activity to the area 

24 38 Providing trash cans Encourages the 

proper disposal 

of hazardous 

items 

...they are placed 

near where sexual 

transactions occur 

Must be emptied 

regularly; police 

may be accused 

of condoning 

prostitution 

Responses With Limited Effectiveness 

25 38 Conducting sweeps Temporarily 

removes 

prostitutes and 

clients from the 

streets 

Undermines the 

criminal justice 

system and police 

integrity; the risks of 

arresting innocent 

people 

26 38 Harassing and 

intimidating 

prostitutes 

Discourages 

prostitutes from 

offending 

Undermines 

police integrity; 

geographically 

displaces the problem 
Appendix 49 

Response 

No. 

Page 

No. 

Response How It Works Works Best If... Considerations 

27 38 Suspending 

or revoking 

government aid to 

prostitutes 

Encourages 

prostitutes to 

quit 

...prostitutes are 

receiving significant 

amounts of aid 

without reporting 

prostitution 

income, and aid 

agencies are willing 

to take action 

Implications for 

dependent children; 

requires adequate 

social service 

follow-up; may have 

opposite effect of 

promoting more 

prostitution to 

replace lost income 

28 39 Establishing formal 

or informal redlight districts where 

street prostitution is 

tolerated 

Reduces 

nuisance 

complaints; 

increases the 

police ability to 

monitor street 

prostitution and 

related crime 

...the community 

is willing to tolerate 

some level of street 

prostitution, and 

the red-light district 

can be adequately 

policed and will not 

attract additional 

clients from other 

communities 

Legality (ruled 

unconstitutional 

in Canada as a 

local option); the 

expansion of street 

prostitution out 

of the tolerance 

zones; lack of public 

support; ineffective 

in reducing nuisance 

complaints or harm 

to prostitutes under 

some conditions; 

implies that police 

condone prostitution 

29 39 Legalizing and 

decriminalizing 

prostitution 

Legalization 

subjects 

prostitution to 

administrative 

Not politically 

feasible in 

foreseeable future 

in the United States, 

regulation United Kingdom, or 

Canada 

Endnotes 51 

Endnotes 

1 Goldstein (1990). 2 See Goldstein (1977) and Newburn (1999) for discussions of police 

corruption generally, and the special hazards of policing prostitution. 3 Benson and Matthews (1995); Hodgson (1997); Matthews (1993); van 

Gelder and Kaplan (1992). 4 Melrose (2003). 5 Maloney and Mobley (2002). 6 McIntyre (2002). 7 Cohen (1980); May, Edmunds, and Hough (1999); van Gelder and Kaplan 

(1992). 8 Romero-Daza, Weeks, and Singer (2003); Dalla, Zia, and Kennedy (2003); 

Kurtz et al. (2004); Penfold et al. (2004); Surrat et al. (2004). 9 Church et al. (2001); Penfold et al. (2004). 10 Kurtz et al. (2004). 11 Kennedy, Gorzalka, and Yuille (2004); Monto (2004); Hughes (2004). 12 Monto (2004). 13 Weitzer (2000); Brooks-Gordon and Gelsthorpe (2003a). 14 Monto (2004). 15 Brooks-Gordon and Gelsthorpe (2003b). 16 Hughes (2004). 17 Williamson and Cluse-Tolar (2002). 18 Home Office (2004); Williamson and Cluse-Tolar (2002). 19 Williamson and Cluse-Tolar (2002). 20 Cohen (1980). 21 Hubbard and Sanders (2003). 22 May, Edmunds, and Hough (1999); Sterk and Elifson (1990); Cusick and 

Hickman (2005); Cusick, Martin, and May (2003). 23 Forrest, Myhill, and Tilley (2005). 24 Matthews (2005). 25 Weitzer (1999); Hunter, May, and the Drug Strategy Directorate (2004); 

Hester and Westmarland (2004); Thukral and Ditmore (2003); Home 

Office (2006). 26 Benson and Matthews (2000). 27 Matthews (1997); Lowman (1992); Hester and Westmarland (2004); Hunter, 

May, and the Drug Strategy Directorate (2004); Home Office (2006). 
52 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

28 Dodge, Star-Gimeno, and Williams (2005). 29 Brooks-Gordon and Gelsthorpe (2003a); Campbell 

and Storr (2001); Sanders (2005); Penfold et al. (2004). 30 Haringey Council (2004). 31 Weitzer (1999). 32 Eck and Spelman (1987); Sampson and Scott (2000); 

Benson and Matthews (2000); Lowman (1992); Larsen 

(1996); Getz (1996). 33 American Prosecutors Research Institute (2004). 34 Hill (2004); Moser (2001). 35 Weidner (2001); Buffalo Prostitution Task Force 

(1999); Weitzer (1999). 36 Hubbard (1998). 37 Home Office (2004); Home Office (2006); Hughes 

(2004). 38 Sagar (2005). 39 Forrest, Myhill, and Tilley (2005). 40 Campbell and Storr (2001); Brooks-Gordon and 

Gelsthorpe (2003a); Monto (2004); Van Brunschot 

(2003); Wortley and Fischer (2002); Wortley, 

Fischer, and Webster (2002); Hughes (2004); 

Fischer et al. (2002). 41 Weitzer (2000). 42 Hughes (2004); Victoria Attorney-General’s 

Prostitution Advisory Group (2002). 43 Wortley and Fischer (2002). 44 Campbell and Storr (2001). 45 Hunter, May, and the Drug Strategy 

Directorate (2004). 46 San Diego Police Department (1994); San Bernardino 

Police Department (1999). 47 Larsen (1996); Hester and Westmarland (2004). 48 Lowman (1992). 49 Hester and Westmarland (2004). 50 Expert Group on Prostitution, and Scottish Executive 

(2004). 51 Hester and Westmarland (2004). 
Endnotes 53 

52 Dalla, Zia, and Kennedy (2003); Cusick, Martin, and 

May (2003); Hester and Westmarland (2004). 53 McIntyre (2002); Dalla, Zia, and Kennedy (2003). 54 Home Office (2004). 55 Golding (1994); Buffalo Prostitution Task Force 

(1999); Sampson and Scott (2000). 56 Benson and Matthews (1995); Weidner (2001); Weitzer 

(1999). 57 Hester and Westmarland (2004); Cleveland Police, 

Middlesbrough Police District (2000); Penfold et al. 

(2004). 58 Sanders (2001); Sanders (2004); Kurtz et al. (2004). 59 New Westminster Police Service (2002). 60 Benson and Matthews (1995). 61 Canada Department of Justice Research Section 

(1989). 62 Getz (1996). 63 Benson and Matthews (2000); Buffalo Prostitution 

Task Force (1999). 64 Monto (2004). 65 Weitzer (1999). 66 Sampson and Scott (2000). 67 Matthews (1997); Larsen (1996). 68 www.renewal.net (n.d.); Hughes (2004); Home Office 

(2006). 69 Sampson and Scott (2000). 70 Weidner (2001). 71 Portland Police Bureau and Campbell Resources Inc. 

(1991). 72 Spelman (1993); Sampson and Scott (2000). 73 Sampson and Scott (2000). 74 Home Office (2004). 75 Hunter, May, and the Drug Strategy 

Directorate (2004). 76 Sampson and Scott (2000). 77 Benson and Matthews (1995); Golding (1994). 78 Bindel and Kelly (2003). 

References 55 

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62 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

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of Criminology 45(1):98–112. 

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2006. 

About the Authors 67 

About the Authors 

Michael S. Scott 

Michael S. Scott is the director of the Center for ProblemOriented Policing, Inc. and clinical assistant professor at 

the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. He was 

formerly chief of police in Lauderhill (Florida); served in 

various civilian administrative positions in the St. Louis 

Metropolitan, Ft. Pierce (Florida), and New York City 

police departments; and was a police officer in the Madison 

(Wisconsin) Police Department. Scott developed training 

programs in problem-oriented policing at the Police Executive 

Research Forum (PERF). He was the 1996 recipient of 

the Gary P. Hayes Award for innovation and leadership in 

policing. He is a judge for the Herman Goldstein Award for 

Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. Scott holds a law 

degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree 

from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 
68 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

Kelly Dedel 

Kelly Dedel is the Director of One in 37 Research, Inc., a 

criminal justice consulting firm based in Portland, Oregan. As 

a consultant to federal, state, and local agencies, her research 

on the juvenile and criminal justice systems takes one of 

three major forms: 1) developing written tools to enhance 

practice or inform public policy; 2) conducting investigations 

of the conditions of confinement in juvenile correctional 

facilities; and 3) undertaking rigorous evaluations of various 

juvenile and criminal justice programs to determine their 

effectiveness. She has provided evaluation-related technical 

assistance to over 60 jurisdictions across the country for 

the Bureau of Justice Assistance. In this capacity, Dr. Dedel 

worked with a broad range of criminal justice programs 

implemented by police, prosecutors, public defenders, local 

jails, community corrections, and prisons. Dr. Dedel consults 

with the Department of Justice as a monitor/investigator of 

civil rights violations in juvenile correctional facilities, most 

often in the area of education. Among her other research 

interests are prisoner reentry, risk assessment and offender 

classification, and juveniles in adult correctional facilities. 

Prior to working as a consultant, she was a founder and 

senior research scientist at The Institute on Crime, Justice 

and Corrections at The George Washington University, and 

was a senior research associate at the National Council on 

Crime and Delinquency. Dr. Dedel received bachelor's degrees 

in psychology and criminal justice from the University of 

Richmond and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the 

Center for Psychological Studies in Berkeley, California. 
Recommended Readings 69 

Recommended Readings 

• A Police Guide to Surveying Citizens and Their 

Environments, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1993. This 

guide offers a practical introduction for police practitioners 

to two types of surveys that police find useful: surveying 

public opinion and surveying the physical environment. It 

provides guidance on whether and how to conduct costeffective surveys. 

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An 

Introductory Guide for Police Problem-Solvers, 

by John E. Eck (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services, 2001). This guide 

is a companion to the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series. 

It provides basic guidance to measuring and assessing 

problem-oriented policing efforts. 

• Conducting Community Surveys, by Deborah Weisel 

(Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office of Community 

Oriented Policing Services, 1999). This guide, along with 

accompanying computer software, provides practical, basic 

pointers for police in conducting community surveys. The 

document is also available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs. 

• Crime Prevention Studies, edited by Ronald V. Clarke 

(Criminal Justice Press, 1993, et seq.). This is a series of 

volumes of applied and theoretical research on reducing 

opportunities for crime. Many chapters are evaluations of 

initiatives to reduce specific crime and disorder problems. 
70 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing:The 

1999 Herman Goldstein Award Winners. This 

document produced by the National Institute of Justice 

in collaboration with the Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services and the Police Executive Research Forum 

provides detailed reports of the best submissions to the 

annual award program that recognizes exemplary problemoriented responses to various community problems. A 

similar publication is available for the award winners from 

subsequent years. The documents are also available at 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij. 

• Not Rocket Science? Problem-Solving and Crime 

Reduction, by Tim Read and Nick Tilley (Home Office 

Crime Reduction Research Series, 2000). Identifies and 

describes the factors that make problem-solving effective 

or ineffective as it is being practiced in police forces in 

England and Wales. 

• Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory 

for Crime Prevention, by Marcus Felson and Ronald V. 

Clarke (Home Office Police Research Series, Paper No. 98, 

1998). Explains how crime theories such as routine activity 

theory, rational choice theory and crime pattern theory 

have practical implications for the police in their efforts to 

prevent crime. 

• Problem Analysis in Policing, by Rachel Boba (Police 

Foundation, 2003). Introduces and defines problem 

analysis and provides guidance on how problem analysis 

can be integrated and institutionalized into modern 

policing practices. 
Recommended Readings 71 

• Problem-Oriented Policing, by Herman Goldstein 

(McGraw-Hill, 1990, and Temple University Press, 1990). 

Explains the principles and methods of problem-oriented 

policing, provides examples of it in practice, and discusses 

how a police agency can implement the concept. 

• Problem-Oriented Policing and Crime Prevention, 

by Anthony A. Braga (Criminal Justice Press, 2003). 

Provides a thorough review of significant policing research 

about problem places, high-activity offenders, and repeat 

victims, with a focus on the applicability of those findings 

to problem-oriented policing. Explains how police 

departments can facilitate problem-oriented policing by 

improving crime analysis, measuring performance, and 

securing productive partnerships. 

• Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the 

First 20 Years, by Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of 

Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 

2000). Describes how the most critical elements of 

Herman Goldstein's problem-oriented policing model have 

developed in practice over its 20-year history, and proposes 

future directions for problem-oriented policing. The report 

is also available at www.cops.usdoj.gov. 

• Problem-Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in 

Newport News, by John E. Eck and William Spelman 

(Police Executive Research Forum, 1987). Explains the 

rationale behind problem-oriented policing and the 

problem-solving process, and provides examples of 

effective problem-solving in one agency. 
72 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing 

Crime and Disorder Through Problem-Solving 

Partnerships by Karin Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott 

Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg Townsend. (U.S. 

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services, 1998) (also available at www.cops.usdoj. 

gov). Provides a brief introduction to problem-solving, 

basic information on the SARA model and detailed 

suggestions about the problem-solving process. 

• Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case 

Studies, Second Edition, edited by Ronald V. Clarke 

(Harrow and Heston, 1997). Explains the principles and 

methods of situational crime prevention, and presents over 

20 case studies of effective crime prevention initiatives. 

• Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety 

Problems: Case Studies in Problem-Solving, by 

Rana Sampson and Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of 

Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 

2000) (also available at www.cops.usdoj.gov). Presents case 

studies of effective police problem-solving on 18 types of 

crime and disorder problems. 

• Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook 

for Law Enforcement, by Timothy S. Bynum (U.S. 

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services, 2001). Provides an introduction for 

police to analyzing problems within the context of 

problem-oriented policing. 

• Using Research: A Primer for Law Enforcement 

Managers, Second Edition, by John E. Eck and Nancy G. 

LaVigne (Police Executive Research Forum, 1994). Explains 

many of the basics of research as it applies to police 

management and problem-solving. 
Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 73 

Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides series: 

1. Assaults in and Around Bars, 2nd Edition. Michael S. Scott. 

2001. ISBN: 1-932582-00-2 

2. Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 

ISBN: 1-932582-01-0 

3. Speeding in Residential Areas. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 

ISBN: 1-932582-02-9 

4. Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes. 

Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-03-7 

5. False Burglar Alarms. Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-04-5 

6. Disorderly Youth in Public Places. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 

ISBN: 1-932582-05-3 

7. Loud Car Stereos. Michael S. Scott. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-06-1 

8. Robbery at Automated Teller Machines. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 

ISBN: 1-932582-07-X 

9. Graffiti. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-08-8 

10. Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities. Ronald V. 

Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-09-6 

11. Shoplifting. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-10-X 

12. Bullying in Schools. Rana Sampson. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-11-8 

13. Panhandling. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-12-6 

14. Rave Parties. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-13-4 

15. Burglary of Retail Establishments. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002. 

ISBN: 1-932582-14-2 

16. Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs, 2nd Edition. 

Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-15-0 

17. Acquaintance Rape of College Students. Rana Sampson. 2002. 

ISBN: 1-932582-16-9 

18. Burglary of Single-Family Houses. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 

2002. ISBN: 1-932582-17-7 

19. Misuse and Abuse of 911. Rana Sampson. 2002. 

ISBN: 1-932582-18-5 

20. Financial Crimes Against the Elderly. 

Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-22-3 
74 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

21. Check and Card Fraud. Graeme R. Newman. 2003. 

ISBN: 1-932582-27-4 

22. Stalking. the National Center for Victims of Crime. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-30-4 

23. Gun Violence Among Serious Young Offenders. Anthony A. 

Braga. 2004. ISBN: 1-932582-31-2 

24. Prescription Fraud. Julie Wartell and Nancy G. La Vigne. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-33-9 

25. Identity Theft. Graeme R. Newman. 2004. ISBN: 1-932582-35-3 

26. Crimes Against Tourists. Ronald W. Glensor and Kenneth J. 

Peak. 2004. ISBN: 1-932582-36-3 

27. Underage Drinking. Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-39-8 

28. Street Racing. Kenneth J. Peak and Ronald W. Glensor. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-42-8 

29. Cruising. Kenneth J. Peak and Ronald W. Glensor. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-43-6 

30. Disorder at Budget Motels. Karin Schmerler. 2005. 

ISBN: 1-932582-41-X 

31. Drug Dealing in Open-Air Markets. Alex Harocopos and Mike 

Hough. 2005. ISBN: 1-932582-45-2 

32. Bomb Threats in Schools. Graeme R. Newman. 2005. 

ISBN: 1-932582-46-0 

33. Illicit Sexual Activity in Public Places. Kelly Dedel Johnson. 

2005. ISBN: 1-932582-47-9 

34. Robbery of Taxi Drivers. Martha J. Smith. 2005. 

ISBN: 1-932582-50-9 

35. School Vandalism and Break-Ins. Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2005. 

ISBN: 1-9325802-51-7 

36. Drunk Driving. Michael S. Scott, Nina J. Emerson, Louis B. 

Antonacci, and Joel B. Plant. 2005. ISBN: 1-932582-57-6 

37. Juvenile Runaways. Kelly Dedel. 2006. ISBN: 1932582-56-8 

38. The Exploitation of Trafficked Women. Graeme R. Newman. 

2006. ISBN: 1-932582-59-2 

39. Student Party Riots. Tamara D. Madensen and John E. Eck. 2006. 

ISBN: 1-932582-60-6 
Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 75 

40. People with Mental Illness. Gary Cordner. 2006. 

ISBN: 1-932582-63-0 

41. Child Pornography on the Internet. Richard Wortley 

and Stephen Smallbone. 2006. ISBN: 1-932582-65-7 

42. Witness Intimidation. Kelly Dedel. 2006. 

ISBN: 1-932582-67-3 

43. Burglary at Single-Family House Construction 

Sites. Rachel Boba and Roberto Santos. 2006. 

ISBN: 1-932582-00-2 

44. Disorder at Day Laborer Sites. Rob Guerette. 2006. 

ISBN: 1-932582-72-X 

Response Guides series: 

• The Benefits and Consequences of Police 

Crackdowns. Michael S. Scott. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-24-X 

• Closing Streets and Alleys to Reduce Crime: Should 

You Go Down This Road? Ronald V. Clarke. 2004. 

ISBN: 1-932582-41-X 

• Crime Prevention Publicity Campaigns. 

Emmanuel Barthe. 2006 ISBN: 1-932582-66-5 

• Shifting and Sharing Responsibility for Public Safety 

Problems. Michael S. Scott and Herman Goldstein. 

2005. ISBN: 1-932582-55-X 

• Video Surveillance of Public Places. Jerry Ratcliffe. 

2006 ISBN: 1-932582-58-4 

Problem-Solving Tools series: 

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory 

Guide for Police Problem-Solvers. John E. Eck. 2002. 

ISBN: 1-932582-19-3 

• Researching a Problem. Ronald V. Clarke and Phyllis A. 

Schultz. 2005. ISBN: 1-932582-48-7 
76 Street Prostitution, 2nd Edition 

• Using Offender Interviews to Inform Police Problem 

Solving. Scott H. Decker. 2005. ISBN: 1-932582-49-5 

• Analyzing Repeat Victimization. Deborah Lamm 

Weisel. 2005. ISBN: 1-932582-54-1 

Upcoming Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides 

Domestic Violence 

Bank Robbery 

Drive-by Shootings 

Crowd Control at Stadiums and Other Entertainment Venues 

Traffic Congestion Around Schools 

Robbery of Convenience Stores 

Theft from Cars on Streets 

Problem-Solving Tools 

Risky Facilities 

Implementing Responses to Problems 

Designing a Problem Analysis System 

Response Guides 

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design 

For more information about the Problem-Oriented Guides for 

Police series and other COPS Office publications, please call 

the COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770 or visit 

COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov. 

For More InForMatIon: 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20530 

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the 

COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770 

Visit COPS Online at the address listed below. 

e10062633 November 2006 

ISBN: 1-932582-72-X 

www.cops.usdoj.gov