Madison police have cracked down on the sidewalk sex trade by infiltrating an online forum used by customers of prostitutes to stay a step ahead of law enforcement.
Police turned the online tool against its users.
Combining information gleaned from the website and eight months of street-level surveillance, the approach by Officer Jeff Pharo and other members of the South District Community Policing Team led to 57 arrests. Pharo compiled a 27-page whos who of streetwalkers, pimps and johns, complete with mug shots, vehicle descriptions and summaries of their habits.
I continue to be amazed at how he was able to piece together information based on what he saw online and on the street, Sgt. Jim Dexheimer, who supervises the team, said of Pharo.
Internet communities for customers of prostitutes have been around since at least the 1990s, allowing local users to share their experiences and their knowledge about prices, available services and potential risks such as sexually transmitted disease, said Tim Holt, a Michigan State University criminologist who researches how people use the Internet to help them commit crimes. They also share information about police and stings, he said.
But police are just beginning to use the sites as investigative resources, Holt said.
Pharo said he stumbled across the Madison page of a national website for prostitution customers while trying to confirm a tip about a prostitute operating in the Badger Road corridor.
Somebody wrote something like, Dees out, wearing a black and white shirt and carrying a pink purse near the PDQ on Fish Hatchery, he said.
The post had a recent time stamp, so Pharo drove to the gas station and saw a woman with a record of prostitution who matched that description, he said.
Pharo went back to the office and signed on, like other site users, with a pseudonym. He said he posted a few fake entries to establish himself and then started checking in and learning about the cast of characters through details they would mention about themselves, their vehicles and their movements.
In one case, someone wrote that theyd seen two prostitutes in the area between 5 and 7 p.m. Pharo had also seen them, so he made a note that the writer had reliable information.
Another time, Pharo said, Someone wrote to the guy in the light-colored Impala youre driving too slow. So I go over there, and sure enough, light-colored Impala, driving slow.
Pharo said he confronted the driver, got him to admit he was cruising for prostitutes and wrote him a ticket.
Sometimes, suspects would refuse to confess, insisting that they were driving up and down Badger for legitimate purposes, such as repeatedly checking gas prices at nearby stations, Pharo said.
But, armed with a growing body of information he gained online and during hours of street surveillance, he said, he often was able to cajole men into admitting they were there for illegal purposes.
If you know what you are talking about, people will usually admit to what they are doing, Pharo said.
As he became able to recognize all the players on sight, the job got easier.
Pharos tactics stand in contrast to standard procedure occasional police sting operations, with officers posing as prostitutes nabbing about a dozen men, but failing to slow down the sidewalk sex trade for more than a day or two, Dexheimer said.
We found out there was a whole other clientele out there that we werent arresting because they are more organized, he said.
Five sting operations from 2006 to 2008 along West Badger Road led to 61 men being arrested, Dexheimer said.
But another group of customers was online, sharing information about how to recognize a sting and how to avoid being arrested. Pharo made 57 arrests in eight months, including 28 men.
Dozens of men used the Madison website he monitored, Pharo said.
Pharo rotated last week to a patrol assignment with hours that better suit his family life.
One or two officers will pick up where Pharo left off, Dexheimer said.
Prostitution is still the most visible sign that this is a neighborhood in crisis, Dexheimer said.
Its important to clean things up in preparation for a planned senior citizen housing complex, but current residents are demanding change too, he said.