Image: Albert Pardini
Marcio Jose Sanchez  /  AP file
Capt. Albert Pardini, head of the San Francisco police Narcotics and Vice Crimes Division, worries that if city voters ban arrests for prostitution, "it's going to be pretty difficult for us" to combat human trafficking.
updated 10/21/2008 6:03:36 PM ET 2008-10-21T22:03:36






Measure faces an uphill battle
Even in tolerant San Francisco — where the sadomasochism fair draws more than 400,000 tourists and a pornographic video company is housed in a former armory — the measure faces an uphill battle, with much of the political establishment opposing it.



Image: Violet
Darryl Bush  /  AP file
A sex worker, who goes by the name "Violet," poses for a picture at a bus stop as a bystander waits for a bus in downtown San Francisco on Thursday.


Police made 1,583 prostitution arrests in 2007 and expect to make a similar number this year. But the district attorney's office says most defendants are fined, placed in diversion programs or both. Fewer than 5 percent get prosecuted for solicititation, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

A magnet for prostitution?


If the proposal passes, "we wouldn't be able to investigate prostitution, and it's going to be pretty difficult for us to locate these folks who are victims of trafficking otherwise," said Capt. Al Pardini, head of the police department's vice unit. "It's pretty rare that we get a call that says: 'I'm a victim of human trafficking' or 'I suspect human trafficking in my neighborhood.'"


Image: Patricia West
Jeff Chiu  /  AP file
Prostitute Patricia West, 22, poses for a photograph in front of City Hall in San Francisco on Friday.
he proposition would also prohibit police from accepting federal or state funds for sex trafficking investigations that involve racial profiling. Such investigations often arise from raids on brothels that advertise as Asian massage parlors.

"We feel that repressive policies don't help trafficking victims, and that human rights-based approaches, including decriminalization, are actually more effective," said Carol Leigh, co-founder of the Bay Area Sex Workers Advocacy Network and a longtime advocate for prostitutes' rights.

A question of neighborhood safety
But San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris said the ballot question mistakenly assumes prostitution is a victimless crime.

"The crime of prostitution does not exist by itself," Harris said. "Along with it come pimps, johns and other crimes that really impact the safety of neighborhoods."

If the measure passes, supporters say, prostitutes would not feel the need for pimps as protection. But opponents insist it would embolden pimps who trap drug addicts into prostitution by plying them with drugs.




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