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This weekend, the D.C. police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some Logan Circle hotels, and “community members” came together to stop nine people from trying to exchange money for sex over the Internet. Third District Captain Aubrey Mongal on how it all went down:
members of the Third District’s Crime Suppression Team, ICE, community members as well as the management of various PSA 307 hotels, worked together to arrest 9 individuals for prostitiion related crimes related to the use of the internet. Along with these arrest, came the seizure of various electronic items that were utilized to enhance their trade as well as money and various evidence. This inititave is another example of psa stakeholders coming together to get things done and we wish to say thanks to all that took part as well as we look foward to working on many more projects in the future. Thank you
In response to the announcement, some community members remained unimpressed. The sex workers are off my Internets, now when will they get off my sidewalks? R. Kelley (seriously) of the MPD-3D listserv has this to say:
There are still a lot of Street Walkers around 13th & K Streets NW; Mass Ave, etc. when I arrive at work around 6:00AM.
Mongal assured Kelley that police “are currently putting plans together to do a better job at elimintaing that problem” and solicited “any information or details relating to the activity, such as descriptions, cars, locations and tactics” of said “Street Walkers.” Meanwhile, on the listserv, Ashley Shillingsburg politely requests that police not follow R. Kelley’s every lead: “They are not ‘street walkers,’ they are ‘sex workers,’ and the only effective means of combating illegal sex work is by going after the people who purchase such services,” she writes. “What are MPD’s tactics for going after those people as opposed to those who are victims of both pimps and johns?”