I have identified the problem inherent in California. The people running the place are too stupid to govern. The following story illustrates my point. First, the state legislature banned, then offered defenses to the ever-popular charge of loitering for the purposes of prostitution. According to the Fox News article cops are flummoxed. Whores are running rampant. This proves that drug addled whores are smarter than the cops, elected politicians and journalists. Oh, woe is me what is a city to do?
I know, I know… read the traffic code!
Been there done that got the t-shirt. I worked in a city that prostitutes regularly strolled through on their way to and from work. They whored on lower Broadway and lived in flea bag motels on Austin Highway. Mostly, they knew not to ply their trade while transiting the bedroom community of Alamo Heights. Many whores have the same instinct as dogs. It’s damn near impossible to keep them out of the street and chasing cars.
Walking in the street where a sidewalk is provided is a traffic offense (both in Texas and California). It is an excuse to contact the streetwalker. The resulting contact gives the whore an opportunity to lie and the cop the opportunity to catch he, she, or it in a lie. Failure to identify or lying about one’s identity is a separate offense. If the false identification came about in order to avoid arrest on an outstanding warrant the offense is elevated. A custody arrest entitles the cop to search the whore. Any contraband found; you guessed it more charges. I think Ben Franklin said it best:
“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.”
― Benjamin Franklin
California law also prohibits soliciting in the roadway for purposes other than prostitution.
(a) No person shall solicit, display, sell, offer for sale, or otherwise vend or attempt to vend any merchandise or service while being wholly or partly within any of the following:
(1) The right-of-way of any freeway, including any on ramp, off ramp, or roadway shoulder which lies within the right-of-way of the freeway.
(2) Any roadway or adjacent shoulder within 500 feet of a freeway off ramp or on ramp.
(3) Any sidewalk within 500 feet of a freeway off ramp or on ramp, when vending or attempting to vend to vehicular traffic.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a roadside rest area or vista point located within a freeway right-of-way which is subject to Section 22520.6, to a tow truck or service vehicle rendering assistance to a disabled vehicle, or to a person issued a permit to vend upon the freeway pursuant to Section 670 of the Streets and Highways Code.
(c) A violation of this section is an infraction. A second or subsequent conviction of a violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
22520.5.
Here is how it plays out in practical terms. If the cops apply themselves most working girls would be cited on a daily basis. This is the excuse to identify the run-a-ways, minors and exploited sex workers. Once the whore ignores her court date, a warrant is generated. He, she or it is then subject to arrest. Enough citations all with different court dates and every time the whore appears in public another warrant is likely due.
Prostitution is illegal. If the whores want a bye they should run for elected office where whoring is an art form.
Admittedly, this does nothing to address the underlying causes of whoring. What it does do is make the cost of the whore business too high to sustain at that particular location. Once that message is understood the whores will move on and the residents will get their neighborhood back.
There are solutions but sometimes due to limited understanding of the political class those solutions are not immediately obvious.
In the late sixties San Antonio, Texas hosted Hemisfair. Whores from all over the United States flocked to San Antonio. They cruised the Riverwalk looking for customers. Riverwalk is a tourist trap populated with bars and restaurants. Whores were not one of the attractions that the City fathers were promoting. The vice squad was tasked with ridding the venue of whores.
The math was all wrong. It took a pair of vice cops to target one whore. Once they made a case it took the better part of an hour to book the prostitute. The hooker spent just enough time in jail to post bail. She usually beat the cops back to the river. Active cops could make maybe three arrests a night.
A vice cop, who will remain nameless hit upon a solution. The San Antonio River is akin to a sewer without the stench. The whores commuted from outlying areas of the city. Math again, travel time, shower makeup, clothing change, travel time again all meant hours a whore was off her stroll. The only unknown was how many whore outfits does a working girl possess and what is the turnaround time at the dry cleaners?
Pretty soon vice cops were tossing whores into the river, rather than arresting them. Cops being cops, anything worth doing was worth doing to excess. Whores were sailing off pedestrian bridges that spanned the river. Groups of whores ended up in the river in a scene reminiscent of a mass Baptism or at least the Aquarena Springs mermaid extravaganza. Pretty soon randy tourists were forced to look to their wives in search of a blow job.
Then the FBI showed up and decreed that the swimming lessons must stop.
California being what it is (on top of being a shithole), I bet there are laws and regulations in the business, zoning and health code that could be applied to whores on the street. I’m thinking signage. Must be visible, and a certain size print. A walking billboard would take care of the g-string thing. How about rates for services and contact information for customer complaints. Many jurisdictions require a police presence if work (solicitation) is to be performed in the roadway.
