12 arrested in SC prostitution investigation

“Unfortunately, this is not as uncommon as people might think”

Santa Cruz police arrested 12 people suspected of involvement in prostitution after a month-long investigation that used plain-clothed officers and information gathered from the Internet. via Santa Cruz Sentinel

[Stephen A]

C'mon... What websites? What social networks? And dammit, locals should get a free pass here: Arrest the Oakland and Sacto and Valley hos & pimps, but let our locals go free!

[DBS]

"Well behaved women seldom make history"

[Carl Bendix]

Too bad this for the most part victimless crime.
I'd like to see this much effort put towards anti-theft stings, anti-fraud stings, anti-rape stings, anti-road rage stings, etc.

[trisha0790]

I am not saying I condone the actions of those arrested but the police REALLY had to go on a hunting expedition to find these "criminals". They were advertising on remote websites, not standing out on the corner waving down cars in their scantily clad bodies. Come on, SCPD - surely you've got a better use of your time and our tax dollars!

[now well behaved]

Some folks just see prostitution as a annoyance and not a real crime. This is not so. From personal experience, and speaking with others in the business, it is degrading. Glorification of prostitution in movies and the media does not give a real perspective of the "business". Prostitution is just the beginning of many other troubles and problems in an area. I am glad there is a crackdown. This could potentially be the best thing to happen to those women and men. They have a chance of a free life. Praise God!

And if you think I'm wrong - how come we rarely hear about women who used to prostitute? If it was so great and or glorious, or not so demeaning and wrong wouldn't more folks come out of the closet and admit to being in that life? Pot smokers, drug dealers, and others who have criminal activity are open about their past. But why not whores? Because society has the attitude of once a whore always a whore. Sad but true.

[Old Guy]

Now Well Behaved, you are absolutely correct about the societal attitude, which is sad because as they say "it takes two to tango". Personally, I wouldn't go to a hooker but it's not because I'm some sort of high road kind of guy. I'm scared to death of all the disease out there, my wife would kill me and take half my crap if she ever found out, and really, I'm not so sure I could get it up under those conditions. Stage fright, ya know, so I'd be out a hundred or so dollars and nothing to show for it. When you think about it, I'm paying for it anyway, putting up with that old bag of mine, so what's the difference? I say let the hookers go free and make their own choices, but the have to live with the consequences.

[lower ocean heights]

maybe you folks that think SCPD 'surely has a better use of your time and our tax dollars' would like these womean and men prowling your neighborhood???
this is a serious problem, and when out of town pimps bring in out of town women to work for the weekend, the pimps obviously know there's easy money to be made.
this problem needs to be managed before summer hits full stride. by then SCPD is simply doing tourist crowd control at the beach and unable to focus their attention on patrolling lower Ocean.
WAY TO GO SCPD!

[wildman]

I think most of those who say prostitution is acceptable, do not have it going on in their neighborhoods. Fortunately, I do not have to live in a neighborhood where prostitution is taking place. It is interesting that the business is so good in Santa Cruz, we attract hookers from out of the area.

[John]

How about the SCPD put more focus and attention on the violent act of rape, a crime which is much more damaging to all victims involved.
As recently recently reported in the Sentinel in a story that was backed by a complete set of statistics, our SCPD is and has been doing a terrible job on convicting for this crime. This has been an issue for years...

[anon]

This sounds like lazy work. Too easy to catch people wanting to have sex. Get the heroin dealers.

[disabuser]

I have to wonder why, in era of internet/cell phone hookups in this business, do people still choose to operate in areas known for it in the past? I have observed this new business model and it is definitely an improvement in its impact on the neighborhood. Steetwalkers actually do walk now instead of standing and soliciting in advertisement attire. But if they would disperse their business connections in a wider geographic area, it would become even less noticeable.

[morpheus]

selling guns is legal in Santa Cruz, but selling sex is illegal. Think about.

[nfty9er]

12 arrests in a month? Wow, that is something to be proud of. About one every three days. What a waste of money and officers time. I could catch 12 in a day. What kind of sting did they pull? One day one, two days off like the fire dept. work schedules.
You will never rid this area of the oldest profession in the world as long as the Boardwalk is in business. If you want to curb it you have to do a better job than 12 arrests in a month.

[nfty9er]

I am from santa cruz not oakland . whats up with that?

[Chris F]

All that police time and energy, all those arrests... don't be patting yourselves on your backs too much, SCPD. If you get more than plea bargains or dismissals, then yeah, give yourselves a high-five. Right now, it's just decent PR in the local paper.

[Becky Johnson]

I'm queasy about using our police/hours/dollars to go on the internet and attempt to hook up with hookers. This sounds like an endless dump of time/money and has the faint smell of entrapment.

I fully understand the Lower Ocean Street neighbors not wanting street walkers in their neighborhood. I've been mistaken for a hooker myself while walking in these areas and it's not fun. In fact, it's kind of scary. I would prefer the prostitutes go back to the massage parlors where they are off the streets and in a place where they have some security.

[going for some reason]

Thank you SCPD. This neighborhood desperately needs your attention.

To all the people who think that this is a waste time, I invite you to come stay a while in the lower Ocean neighborhood. I don't think that keeping prostitutes and pimps from working in front of young children is a waste of time or taxpayer dollars.

[Thank You]

I don’t mind the prostitutes; it’s the Johns that bother me. The women ignore me unless I’m driving a truck, then it’s funny to watch their faces as they realize I’m a woman and not going to pick them up. It’s the guys pulling up and offering me money for sex that annoys me. What if I was 17? Should our young women be subjected to that kind of thing? I think it’s another case of legalize it, tax it and regulate it. Get it off the street. It makes me angry when I’m approached like that, but also scared. What if some man gets angry when I say no? How does that affect a younger woman? Should my friend’s 14 year old daughter have to avoid certain areas, even in daylight? What are my sons learning watching the same woman get into different cars all day long? Yeah SCPD! Please do that every week. Let’s let people buying and selling sex know this is not acceptable on the streets of Santa Cruz.

[common sense]

many people willing to say that this was a wate of time. Did you skip the part about selling a minor for sex. This disgusting what if it was your kid would you not want the police to stop it. Nice work SCPD

[Pamparius]

Lower Ocean just needs to be bulldozed to the ground, and high-dollar tourism condo's should be built instead. Then the hookers and gang bangers couldn't afford to cram into those dumps. Its good the police were successful in a sting. But, yes, anti-theft, anti-drug, anti-gang would be a much better effort. Prostitution can be victimless, but it sucks to have it in your backyard. Now if it were legal in regulated bordellos with regular VD testing, that would be another story.