Police aim to catch Allston pimps using world wide web
Hannah McBride
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: News
Fong said many of the women police arrest speak very little English, have limited education and few other job opportunities. Their pimps tell them police officers are bad people who will deport them so they will never see their families again, making the women distrustful and afraid, he said.
"We have seen many of the girls, most of whom are older women and who maybe at one time probably had been victims of human trafficking but now have taken their jobs as a job with benefits," he said. "This is the only type of job that they know."
Sgt. Kelley O'Connell, a member of the BPD Human Trafficking Task Force, said one or two women stay at a location for no longer than a week before others replace them. Officers want to arrest apartment owners and Craigslist advertisers who orchestrate prostitution rings, so police interrogate the women to get information about who is behind the operation, she said.
"They're participating in this life but won't tell us why or how," O'Connell said.
Police then get search warrants for specific places, between five and 10 days after they first visit the women, to recover anything in the apartments for more information, she said. In one of the cases this year, prostitutes lived in apartments leased under their own names.
So far, police have given some women probation but no jail time. The operation deals on the lower end of the industry, O'Connell said. The women are charged but some do not show up in court.
"They typically don't have status so they're gone," she said, adding that those with citizenship status who appear in court are not usually willing to talk.
Boston University sociology professor Peter Yeager said working on the lower level is often the only option local law enforcement has.
"Police can't connect the dots if people won't testify," he said.
Yeager compared prostitution rings to other crime groups that make it hard to nab the head honcho -- organized crime and drug dealing.
"Everything is set up to protect the boss," he said. "Drug dealers use kids to make deliveries -- the kids probably don't even know the name of the boss."
Those who police catch often get less punishment than the boss would, Yeager said.
Because victims can easily be roped back into the business, Yeager said the police could use green cards or citizenship as bargaining chips for foreign women who may be scared to cooperate with law enforcement.
"We can say, 'You're in a trap and we'll help you get out of that trap,'" he said.
Fong said he does not want to see citizenship offered in exchange for human trafficking information - at best, he would consider temporary legal status for the duration of process.
"As with anything it can be and will be abused," he said.
"We have seen many of the girls, most of whom are older women and who maybe at one time probably had been victims of human trafficking but now have taken their jobs as a job with benefits," he said. "This is the only type of job that they know."
Sgt. Kelley O'Connell, a member of the BPD Human Trafficking Task Force, said one or two women stay at a location for no longer than a week before others replace them. Officers want to arrest apartment owners and Craigslist advertisers who orchestrate prostitution rings, so police interrogate the women to get information about who is behind the operation, she said.
"They're participating in this life but won't tell us why or how," O'Connell said.
Police then get search warrants for specific places, between five and 10 days after they first visit the women, to recover anything in the apartments for more information, she said. In one of the cases this year, prostitutes lived in apartments leased under their own names.
So far, police have given some women probation but no jail time. The operation deals on the lower end of the industry, O'Connell said. The women are charged but some do not show up in court.
"They typically don't have status so they're gone," she said, adding that those with citizenship status who appear in court are not usually willing to talk.
Boston University sociology professor Peter Yeager said working on the lower level is often the only option local law enforcement has.
"Police can't connect the dots if people won't testify," he said.
Yeager compared prostitution rings to other crime groups that make it hard to nab the head honcho -- organized crime and drug dealing.
"Everything is set up to protect the boss," he said. "Drug dealers use kids to make deliveries -- the kids probably don't even know the name of the boss."
Those who police catch often get less punishment than the boss would, Yeager said.
Because victims can easily be roped back into the business, Yeager said the police could use green cards or citizenship as bargaining chips for foreign women who may be scared to cooperate with law enforcement.
"We can say, 'You're in a trap and we'll help you get out of that trap,'" he said.
Fong said he does not want to see citizenship offered in exchange for human trafficking information - at best, he would consider temporary legal status for the duration of process.
"As with anything it can be and will be abused," he said.
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