Salt Lake City police say by the end of the week, they will have arrested more than 50 people in a weeklong sting targeting prostitution.
Undercover officers have targeted those engaging in street prostitution and soliciting call girls, a news release Friday from the Salt Lake City Police Department said, in an attempt to disrupt activity by “Johns” in the Salt Lake area.
Under the Justice Reform Initiative, patronizing a prostitute has recently become a class A misdemeanor, meaning that suspects are booked in jail, could face up to a year of incarceration and be fined up to $2,500. During the sting, several cars were also impounded, said Detective Greg Wilking.
In the past, when officers spotted someone soliciting a prostitute, often they would issue a citation rather than take the suspect to jail, Wilking said.
The department hopes the operation will help people realize soliciting prostitution ”isn’t acceptable” and will be a “financial burden” to those who are caught.
”We’re hoping to turn off the supply of men willing to come and look for women,” Wilking said, adding that a lack of customers will drive prostitutes to “find other avenues” for making money. “If nobody is buying, they’re not selling,” the detective said.
Prostitution “victimizes women and entraps them in a life of drugs and mental health issues,” the news release said. Officers have targeted “the people who are enabling the crime — the pimps and the customers ... rather than punishing the women being ‘pimped out.’”
The department said the approach is a “better way to identify and protect victims of human trafficking.”
Prostitution has “always been prevalent” in the ”north track” along the North Temple corridor near the Interstate 15 overpass and the ”south track” along State and Main streets from 900 South to 2100 South, Wilking said. Officers have also noticed it near the shelter area in the Rio Grande district and in hotels throughout the city, he said.
Undercover officers posed as prostitutes, who were solicited by “Johns” before arrests were made.
“These arrests have crossed all socio-economic boundaries, and have included married men as well as fathers,” the news release states.
Wilking said the department deals with prostitutes as well, but the focus of the operation was on those soliciting them.