Aurora, IL
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Aurora is a city of approximately 200,000 residents, located 40 miles east of Chicago. It is the second most populous city in Illinois, with city boundaries extending into Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall Counties. The Aurora Police Department has adopted an aggressive approach to combat demand for commercial sex. In the early 1990s, APD officers incorporated the use of street-level reverse stings. Operations are now routinely conducted, using one or more undercover female officers as decoys. In addition to city initiatives, the APD has coordinated with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and dozens of other law enforcement agencies to participate in several “National Day of John Arrests” investigations. For example, a reverse sting conducted in September 2013 resulted in the arrest of eight sex buyers.
In April 2016, Aurora police placed ads on a website in which women offered sex for money at an Aurora hotel. Once the meetings were agreed upon and the defendants went to the hotel, they offered money to the woman, who was an undercover officer. The men were immediately arrested. Thirteen sex buyers were arrested in the web-based reverse sting, and the men identified in news releases. Police also impounded the vehicles of all 13 men and they had to pay $500 each to retrieve them.
To further discourage sex buyers, local law enforcement and city officials may apply stringent penalties to offenders. As per a 1993 city ordinance, johns attempting to solicit sex from a vehicle may have their cars seized and impounded. They may also be subject to SOAP (or Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution) orders, barring them from reentering areas known for commercial sex sales.
While the APD has released offenders’ names to the media for years, the department reformulated its “shaming” tactics in August 2002. Following a series of large-scale john stings, the APD offered a small number of arrestees the chance to expunge the criminal charge from their record in exchange for discussing their offense with the public. Using a town hall format, citizens from the neighborhoods involved in the vice sweeps were given the opportunity to talk to the men about the impacts of street prostitution on their families and communities.
John Schools
Expanding upon this dual-strategy of engagement and deterrence, Aurora implemented a john school program in 2002. The program was structured as a pre-trial diversion option. To participate, men had to sign a statement admitting the offense. If they complete the program and one year of pretrial supervision without committing more criminal offenses, no convictions will appear on their records. The first set of 19 men receiving lectures in 2002 were among 31 arrested in during reverse prostitution stings on the city’s near east and southeast sides. Each was charged with solicitation of a prostitute and given the options of taking part in the pre-trial diversion program to keep their records clean or stand trial and face up to a year in jail, if convicted. The program, which Kane County prosecutors believes was the first of its kind in Illinois, was modeled after a successful one in Indianapolis (the Red Zone Program) that had been operating for more than three years previously. The Aurora program’s objective was to impress on arrested johns that prostitution damages neighborhoods and is not a victimless crime, in order to prevent future soliciting. “We want to impress on them the ill effects of prostitution, as a drag on the Police Department and as a negative effect on the community in general,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Richard C. Irvin, who visited the Indianapolis program and organized the one in Aurora.
A second version of a john school was launched in 2009 in Aurora. The school was initially funded by the Aurora Weed & Seed initiative, which targets issues identified by the community as key public safety concerns.
Key Partners
Key Sources
National Assessment Survey and Interviews
Reverse Stings and Shaming:
- “Aurora Decoy Helps Nab 12 in Soliciting for Sex”, Chicago Tribune, September 21 1991.
- “Police Arrested Eight Aurora Men Over the Weekend in an…”, Chicago Tribune, March 15 1995.
- “20 Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, October 10 1999.
- “6 Are Arrested in Prostitution Sting in Aurora”, Chicago Tribune, August 15 2000.
- “Police Arrest 11 at Massage Parlor; Aurora Township Shop Is Targeted”, Chicago Tribune, October 20 2000.
- “POLICE REPORT”, Chicago Tribune, July 3 2001.
- “POLICE REPORT”, Chicago Tribune, November 14 2001.
- “Aurora Police Arrest 12 Men in Reverse Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, July 16 2002.
- “Aurora Prostitution Sting Nets 12 Men”, Chicago Tribune, July 16 2002.
- “Aurora Cops Arrest 13 Men in Latest Prostitution Sting”, Chicago Tribune, September 10 2002.
- “16 Charged in Aurora Prostitution Crackdown”, Chicago Tribune, June 3 2003.
- “Reverse Prostitution Sting Brings 14 Arrests”, Aurora Beacon News, October 31 2004.
- “Nine Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, April 17 2005.
- “9 Arrested in Aurora in Prostitution Sting”, Chicago Tribune, April 18 2005.
- “Police Arrest 16 in Sting on Aurora Prostitution”, Chicago Tribune, September 1 2005.
- “Police Arrest 7 Local Men in Sting on Prostitution”, Chicago Tribune, April 6 2006.
- “Nine Men Arrested in Reverse Prostitution Sting in Aurora”, TribLocal, September 9 2010.
- “4 Arrested in Aurora Prostitution Sting”, Daily Herald, November 4 2010.
- “Ten Charged in Aurora Reverse Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, August 1 2011.
- “8 Arrested in Aurora in National Drive to Nab Men who Solicit Prostitutes”, Aurora Beacon News, October 11 2011.
- “Oswego Man Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Oswego Patch, October 11 2011.
- “Montgomery Man Charged in Aurora Prostitution Sting”, Oswego Patch, January 13 2012.
- “Aurora Men Charged in Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, August 13 2012.
- “26 Charged in Aurora Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, November 30 2012.
- “Eight Charged Following Prostitution Sting in Aurora”, Aurora Beacon News, September 20 2013.
Web Stings:
- “Ten Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Chicago Tribune, May 13 2013.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets Naperville Man”, Naperville Patch, May 13 2013.
- “10 Face Charges in Aurora Prostitution Sting”, Aurora Beacon News, May 14 2013.
- “Five Arrested in Aurora Prostitution Sting”, CBS/WBBM-TV 2, June 28 2013.
- https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150417/news/150418761/ (2015)
Auto Seizure:
- “Aurora May Grab Car for Host of Violations”, Chicago Tribune, October 9 1992.
- “Law to Allow Car Seizures in Crimes”, Chicago Tribune, October 22 1992.
- “Eight Charged Following Prostitution Sting in Aurora”, Aurora Beacon News, September 20 2013.
- https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150417/news/150418761/ (2015)
Neighborhood Action/Shaming/Informal John School:
- “Angry Residents Lecture 19 Johns; Men in Aurora Prostitution Sting Get a Scolding”, Chicago Tribune, August 23 2002.
- “Watchful Neighbors Uncover Prostitution; Residents’ Tips, Info Get Aurora Police on Top of Illegal Operation”, Aurora Beacon News, March 27 2008.
- “Prostitution, Drug Charges Stem from Four Arrests”, Aurora Beacon News, April 3 2008.
Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Aurora Police: Elgin Woman Promoted Teen Prostitution”, Elgin Courier-News, May 23 2013.
- “Men Charged with Arranging Sex with 2 Girls, 15”, Chicago Tribune, June 23 2014.
- “Two Men Accused of Promoting Juvenile Prostitution in Aurora”, Aurora Beacon News, June 23 2014.
- “Four Chicago Men Among 281 Arrested for Child Prostitution in Nationwide Sting”, CBS/WBBM-TV 2, June 24 2014.
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Police Start List of ‘Nuisance’ Properties”, Aurora Beacon News, January 16 1997.
- “Aurora Panel Aims to Curb Prostitution; Johns Would Face Tougher Penalties”, Chicago Tribune, September 12 2002.
- “Caught on Craigslist; Unhappy with Service, Man Turns in Aurora Prostitution House”, Aurora Beacon News, October 25 2007.
- “Aurora, Elgin Cops, Cook Sheriff Take Part in National ‘John’ Sting”, Daily Herald, October 11 2011.
State | Illinois |
Type | City |
Population | 197899 |
Location |
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