NYPD allows prostitution but aims at pimps and Johns who engage with them

We had no idea it was going down like this in Brooklyn…

Source: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images / Getty

Remember in season 3 of The Wire where Bunny Colvin opened up “Hamsterdam”, an open-air “market” where drug dealers and junkies could legally gather to do their business? Well, that is essentially what is currently happening in Brooklyn, New York with prostitution.

According to NYPost, the NYPD has little to no interest in arresting the hard-working ladies who walk the streets of BK looking for Johns. A new article details how the city is taking a different approach to the “crime” of prostitution and that approach is, “there is nothing wrong with doing something strange for a lil’ bit of change”. The new policy is aimed toward helping the women and providing resources and outreach programs for them to transition out of the life should they so choose.

“The Commanding Officer of the 75th Precinct is aware of and working to address the condition.  Included in these efforts are the 75th Precinct Neighborhood Coordination Officers working with outreach groups in order to connect women with resources including mental health services, educational services, housing services and employment services,” the statement said.

This change in ideology began in 2019 after a statewide repeal of the crime called “loitering for the purpose of prostitution” that targeted women as lawbreakers. Under the new policy, the focus will be on the pimps, the tricks, and the Johns who are soliciting and taking advantage of the women. Sex trafficking experts say this will address the problem more at its roots than simply arresting a woman who will be back out on the street as soon as humanly possible.

“In collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the City’s five district attorneys, we have refocused our investigation efforts to cases involving sex trafficking, indentured servitude, and the exploitation of children. We have worked with the District Attorneys, the courts and non-profit organizations to offer them programs as an alternative to prosecution,” it added.

Interesting. What do you think about New York City’s new approach to addressing sex workers?