[16 NOV 00] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Prostitutes Hit In Kerbside Sex Trade Crusade

Kerb-crawlers and prostitutes have been targeted by a special police unit in a crackdown on vice in Coventry.

Six extra officers were allocated to Hillfields in September as part of a Crime Fighting Fund launched by the Home Office. They were told to find long-term solutions to specific crimes in the city

Since they started their work, 34 vice-related arrests have been made in the area. Prostitutes and kerb-crawlers were targeted because of the long-standing blight they have caused on the lives on normal residents in Hillfields.

The team of officers, who were drawn together because of their knowledge of the area, have found that Coventry is a magnet for prostitutes from others towns and cities.

PC Rob Stokes, who has been leading the team, said efforts were being made to help the prostitutes find another way of life.

He said:

“We have been using a number of measures to target prostitution. However, while we are putting people before the courts, we are also aiming to provide prostitutes with strategies that would help them find alternatives to this way of life.”

Agencies working the area have been getting involved to offer the prostitutes a way out of life on the streets.

PC Stokes added:

“We are targeting kerb-crawlers as well as the prostitutes themselves and at least ten have been reported by officers.

“These people will be receiving court summonses.

“Our message is clear – kerb-crawlers will not b tolerated and we will continue to patrol the areas where they congregate. Officers will work in uniform and in plain clothes in a bid to stop the trade.

“As well as those who live in Coventry, we have found that a number of prostitutes are coming into the city from outside to ply their trade. Should this practice continue, we will be looking at taking out anti-social behaviour orders to keep them out.”