Prostitutes get second chance (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Prostitutes get second chance

8:26am Thursday 15th February 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

Prostitues have a chance to turn their lives around thanks to a police crackdown on kerb crawling.

Officers stopped 11 sex workers in two nights in Swindon but instead of arresting them, drug workers gave them advice on treatment.

Only one of the women refused the help while the others are set to get the support they need to ditch their habits.

Broad Green beat manager PC Matt Barnett said he hoped the new approach would help the women crack the addictions which force them to work the streets.

But while taking a softer approach towards the prostitutes, police say they will continue to hound the men who pay for sex.

PC Barnett said: "We have taken a slightly different tack and it's important people understand prostitutes don't do this because they want to, they do it because they have to feed crack and heroin habits costing them hundreds of pounds a day.

advertisement "The court system doesn't always work with these girls because they get into a cycle of getting a fine and working to pay it off.

"We want to try to break that cycle and come from a different angle and offer them treatment and help."

The operation, involving plainclothed and uniformed officers, ran on Monday and Tuesday night.

It follows a focus on prostitution in September which saw 21 arrests in three days, with 13 prostitutes taken off the streets.

This week, the Adver joined the police as they searched for prostitutes in the roads and back alleys around Manchester Road and County Road.

Nine men were stopped for kerb crawling, five of whom received cautions and one of whom was bailed pending further inquiries. Police took no action with two of the men and the immigration status of one is being investigated.

All but two of the kerb crawlers were married. One was a father-of-three. He was carrying £200 and was caught after he spent 20 minutes driving around the red light area before indicating to an undercover female police officer to get in his car.

To many of the prostitutes, evading the police is a game of cat and mouse.

They disappear down dark alleys, hide behind cars and do what they can to avoid being caught.

One woman told officers she had been to watch Swindon Town play but when pressed she had no idea of the score and eventually admitted she was lying.

Another, who was picked up early in the evening and taken to the police station to see the drugs worker, was caught after going straight back out on the streets. It was after midnight and her insistence that she was in the area to visit her grandma cut little sway with the police.

PC Barnett said: "The kerb crawlers make it difficult for any woman to walk in that area. It's because of these guys that the prostitutes are there.

"They don't have drug addictions and they are generally what we would term respectable members of the community' but they lead a double life of kerb crawling in the evening.

"They have got to realise what they are doing has a huge effect on the community and it could have a huge effect on their home life.

"They need to be made to see that this is not just a pleasurable activity for them.

"The message is think twice before you do it.

"If you are arrested and charged we will seek full press coverage which could mean releasing your details and picture - and try explaining that to your wife when you get home."

During the crackdown one man was also arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis and a knife and another, who was found carrying a screwdriver and a metal spike, was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal.