Prostitution Suspects May Find Their Time in Jail Lasts Longer

“Working women” hoping to get rich walking San Diego streets during the upcoming Super Bowl may instead find themselves cooling their heels behind bars under a new law enforcement plan that goes into effect at 4 p.m. today to combat prostitution during football’s championship game.

Beginning today and lasting through Feb. 1--the day after Super Bowl XXII--San Diego County detention officials have suspended their normal practice of immediately releasing women on their own recognizance if arrested for prostitution.

That means the women could be held in jail for as long as 48 hours before they are arraigned in court and given the opportunity to make bond.

Costly Venture

The women also may find it costs a lot more to get out of jail. The reason: Law enforcement officials said they will be holding prostitutes over on all outstanding arrest warrants.

Because many of them have a history of arrests, the women will have to post $2,000 for each separate offense, which could become expensive and further delay their release.

“It’s going to make it harder for them to get back out on the street,” said Lt. Lou Scanlon, a police spokesman.

Normally, women arrested for prostitution are taken to a county detention facility, are fingerprinted, photographed, and then released pending a court hearing. Under normal circumstances, prostitutes can be back on the street plying their trade in less than two hours.

But not for the Super Bowl, when the city wants to project its best image to the thousands of visitors to San Diego for the prestigious sporting event.

As the big game has drawn near, police and city officials and community organizations--especially those along El Cajon Boulevard--have become concerned that prostitution on street corners and in the larger hotels may get out of hand.

This week, police assembled a special seven-member task force to study the problem. An extra 20 officers were assigned to work undercover at area hotels to circumvent prostitution activity.

Further, police have been meeting with local hotel security officials to brief them on how to spot professional, out-of-town prostitutes.

Several community organizations along El Cajon Boulevard, the thoroughfare most traveled by streetwalkers in San Diego, have complained to City Hall and the police in recent months about the expected upsurge in prostitution during Super Bowl week.

Marla Marshall, administrative aide to City Councilwoman Gloria McColl, said members of McColl’s office have met with police and concerned citizens who live close to El Cajon Boulevard and are worried that prostitution will noticeably increase in their neighborhoods. Marshall said she and McColl, whose district includes El Cajon Boulevard, went on a recent police ride-along and were surprised to see that many out-of-town hookers had already arrived in San Diego.

“There were a lot of prostitutes out there,” she said. “One of the police officers chatted with one group and they said they were from the East Coast, where it’s real cold, too cold to be standing on the corner.”

Bothering Residents

She said McColl’s City Hall office has received an increase in complaints. One man said he was harassed by two women who followed him home from the bus stop. And a 16-year-old girl who escorts her younger brother home from school has been oftentimes propositioned by male customers.

“People just don’t need to be victimized like that,” Marshall said. “It’s really frustrating for them.”

She said that several years ago, police staged an intense, prolonged surveillance to arrest prostitutes in the area and, during that sweep, there was an 86% decrease in violent street crime in the El Cajon Boulevard area.

“Even if the Super Bowl weren’t here this year, it’s still wintertime,” she said. “And we need to gear up to combat this kind of activity.”