Correspondent of the Day: Despite Little Progress, Fight Must Continue

Despite Little Progress, Fight Must Continue
Editor, Times-Dispatch: In a recent news article, "Police Wage Constant Fight to Curb Prostitution," regarding prostitution arrests in the metro area, VCU professor Jay S. Albanese says, "Obviously, if there were a deterrent effect, there would be a declining number of arrests." I am sure that this was extracted from a longer comment. However, as written it raises the serious question: If we're not making any progress here, why even bother?

While not a criminologist, I consider myself qualified to comment on the logical fallacy demonstrated where deterrence is equated to a year-to-year decline in arrests. Whether it is prostitution, illicit drug use, or illegal border crossings, the number of arrests made is based as much on the resources devoted to enforcing the law as the number of individuals breaking it. A realistic goal of vice-crime enforcement cannot be the establishment of the world's first prostitution-free society. It is, rather, to shift the social equilibrium to a more acceptable position (fewer prostitutes, fewer customers, fewer affected neighborhoods). It does this by providing the tangible negative consequence of arrest and embarrassment as an offset to the perceived benefits to the participants of easy money and instant gratification.

Certainly, each year there will continue to be new prospective prostitutes and new potential johns and just as certainly each year there will be those who choose to opt out or retire from the trade. For some individuals, an arrest, or perhaps multiple arrests, will contribute to their decision-making process, thereby reducing the number of active participants in the business. Conversely, the absence of vigorous law enforcement would eliminate these pressures and allow the industry to increase in size and scope. The number of arrests, however, would decline. Kevin F. O'Hara. Midlothian.