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COMING IN SUNDAY'S PAPER: Crackdown on prostitution inside Strip hotels

By ALAN MAIMON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Feb. 13, 2009 | 10:22 a.m.
Updated: Feb. 13, 2009 | 2:06 p.m.

Las Vegas police and prosecutors have launched an unprecedented crackdown on repeat prostitution offenders who operate inside Strip hotels.

As part of the Vice Enforcement Top Offenders (VETO) initiative, the police vice unit created a list of the 50 "most prolific prostitutes" in town, women they say have the longest records of prostitution-related crimes in Southern Nevada.

Working off the list, police have arrested half the women in the past two weeks, mostly for trespassing.

In a memo to prosecutors about VETO cases, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lalli last month told his staff to offer plea agreements that would include possible jail time and an order that defendants "refrain from entering the resort corridor" for a period of six or 12 months.

City and county ordinances have allowed for so-called "order-out zones" in downtown Las Vegas and the Strip since the late 1990s.

Vice Lt. Karen Hughes said police are serious about putting a dent in prostitution, an activity she says is dangerous and a nuisance to hotel guests.

"A lot of visitors think prostitution is part of the climate and culture, but it's not legal in Las Vegas and Clark County," Hughes said. "We want to send a strong message that we won't tolerate a revolving door of prostitution."

Some are criticizing the law enforcement effort as overly aggressive and impractical.

"It seems pretty hypocritical to me to have an economy based on sexualizing women and then to come down on the women when police want to make it seem like they're enforcing the law," said Barbara Brents, a sociology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

 

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  1. rachel.gutowskivegasmodel Feb. 17, 2009 | 6:50 p.m. Report Abuse

    I agree with corissa completely
    Why is it that us hot chicks are being catagorized like call girls when i tell someone im a nude model it means im a nude model For photographers I take artsy nude photos but no people don't see the lighting and every thing else that photographers usually have to send ahead of themselves to shoot here in Vegas and most of them are not going to waste the extra money on studios .. regardless its the casino hoes that make me look bad and BTW where are all those hoes when my friends on my space are in town looking for them cuz i would sure like to meet any that are as hot as i am but they sale their body cuz im not for sale but damn right about it being a business and guys that want it should be able to find it...OH WAIT NOW THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THAT LITTLE TOWN CALLED PAHRUMP!!

  2. Fallen Angel Feb. 16, 2009 | 11:22 a.m. Report Abuse

    I agree and disagree with prositution. I agree with Metro as far as keeping them from loitering in casinos and annoying our playing customers. That I completely agree with. But I think they should be accessible. If someone wants to pay for pleasure, then let them. Whats the differnce than paying for anything else? There isn't! They want a service, and they are willing to pay for it...sounds like business to me. But keeping them out casinos make a lot of good sense because they bother people who don't want to be bothered and that could hurt us more than help. But keep them accessible whether its by phone, or just outside the casinos.

  3. Lady Perturbed Feb. 14, 2009 | 2:21 p.m. Report Abuse

    Okay, let me say this once and for all.
    All you Johns calling for legalization and taxation. I don't hear one of you offering up your orifice to stimulate the economy. Where do you get off only calling for women to lay down for your perversion. Start arresting the Johns and charging stiff fines; now there is a bottomless source of revenue for the state. I do agree that everybody including valets, security, Metro VICE, bartenders, taxi drivers, every facilitator of sex trafficking is benefitting while the girl/woman is paying the man and paying the price and taking the beating. Prostitution is wrong and it is wrong for VICE to go after the victim and not the buyer and seller of this human commodity. That is against the law, too; its called Pandering and Solicitation. Wake up...it can happen to your daughter, mother, sister or friend in this town. Guess you haven't heard about the pods loaded with womens bodies who tried to escape. Ask VICE about that one. Victims have civil rights and can go after their oppressors/facilitators in civil court. Perhaps Ms. Greco should consider switching to civil law and chase that ambulance. Then she and the victims can buy land and build 10 houses each in the Ridges.

  4. johnny46tee Feb. 14, 2009 | 11:10 a.m. Report Abuse

    Some good comments here. It's Valentine's day. I'm going out to the Chicken Ranch to see my Valentine. You can put my name an any John's list. I'm not married but I'm not died. Metro dose have bigger fish to fry. Now it's safer to go to a casino after 10pm then a Wal-Mart. And yes some casino's have security that get the hookers thought security for the whales. When this story gets out it's going to hurt our economy more then Obamas statements. But all the advertising the LVCUA can do will not bring people here if they don't have money. So no one wins. The mayor,hookers,dealers Steve Wynn nobody.

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