Salt Lake undercover operation nets many ‘johns’ in prostitution stings

The Salt Lake City Police Department announced Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, that the Organized Crime unit has been conducting undercover operations targeting street prostitution and call girls in the Salt Lake area. Photo courtesy: SLCPD

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 25, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have been conducting prostitution stings in the Salt Lake area, according to a Friday news release from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Patronizing a prostitute is now a Class A misdemeanor under the new Justice Reform Initiative, the release states. It continues:

“This means that if you are arrested for solicitation in Salt Lake City, you are going to be taken to jail and your car will be impounded. You will also face fines up to $2,500, and spend up to one year in jail.”

The Organized Crime unit has been conducting undercover operations targeting street prostitution and call girls, and the weeklong operation was expected to result in more than 50 arrests for solicitation of prostitution.

“These arrests have crossed all socio-economic boundaries, and have included married men as well as fathers,” the release states.

The operation’s goal is to deter men from soliciting prostitution, “because it victimizes women and entraps them in a life of drugs and mental health issues.” The focus is to target the pimps and customers who enable the crime.

The SLCPD release says that criminalizing the people who seek out prostitutes, rather than punishing the women who are being “pimped out,” is also a better way to identify and protect victims of human trafficking.

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