Federal Way, WA
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Federal Way is a city with a population of 90,000 in the Puget Sound region of Washington, about mid-way between Seattle and Tacoma. Prostitution and sex trafficking, and violence against prostituted persons, are well-documented problems in the city. An enforcement action in 2010 resulted in the identification of seven teenage sex trafficking victims. In another case investigated in early 2014, a defendant admitted to having sex with two disabled women and pimping them from a Federal Way home they shared. One 51 year-old woman’s disabilities rendered her almost non-verbal– unable to tell time or recite the alphabet, according to charging papers. One of the woman went to police on February 18 with friends to report she had been raped for several years. Though she was barely able to speak, she managed to tell police about the sex without consent. The man used children’s books and toys to endear himself to the most severely disabled woman, and allegedly took her disability payments to pay his rent. The man knew she did not have the mental capacity of an adult, that she didn’t know her own age, that she could not read or write, tell time, and didn’t know the alphabet, the detective wrote in the charging papers. The defendant was charged with second-degree rape as well as two counts of promoting prostitution. Several cases of homicide of prostituted women have also been documented locally. For example, in 2001, a prostituted woman was lured to an area and raped by three teenage boys, who then stabbed her at least 90 times and left her to die.
The Federal Way Police Department uses several tactics to fight prostitution and sex trafficking, such as reverse stings, web-based reverse stings, SOAP orders, and surveillance cameras. Reverse stings began in 1993 and street-level operations occur about twice per year. For example, in June of 1997, between 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. on a Friday, three female officers in street clothes took turns standing in the 33000 block of Pacific Highway South while backup officers watched from a nearby motel. Three minutes after the operation began, they made their first arrest. A man offered an officer money for sex, she agreed, and the hidden officers moved in. Eight arrests were made in the five hour operation.
Web stings have been used in the city since 2005. In one such operation in 2008, 14 men responding to a Craigslist ad posted by police were arrested in a two-hour time period. In December 2015, Federal Way police arrested eight men during a web-based reverse sting. Police created an advertisement on backpage.com and an undercover detective posing as a prostitute communicated with the johns via text and cell phone, according to a police spokeswoman. Once the john arrived at a vacant apartment in the 2200 block of South Star Lake Road, the detective met with him outside the location and obtained and in-person offer and agreement for a sexual act. Police arrested a Federal Way man, one from Kent, two men from Tacoma, three from Seattle and a man from Sacramento, California. Police interviewed the suspects at the SCORE jail and released them. They all faces charges for soliciting prostitution.
While the identities of the arrested sex buyers are not generally listed in public reports, they were included in at least one instance. In October, 2006, the Federal Way Police Department arrested 13 individuals for soliciting a prostitute. Members of the Special Investigations Unit, Pro-Act Team, and Federal Way Police Patrol Officers teamed up for the undercover prostitution operation. Female officers posed as prostitutes during the operation that occurred along Pacific Highway South in Federal Way. The operation lasted for approximately four hours. Special Agents from the Immigration Customs Enforcement Service (I.C.E.) also participated in this operation, and were able to determine that five of the 13 persons arrested were illegally residing in the United States. The names of all those arrested were listed in news reports.
Another tactic police have used is security cameras which are set up around the city to monitor criminal activity. These cameras are intended to make criminals, including johns, “think twice” about breaking the law and could assist police in surveying for prostitution and sex trafficking activity.
In October 2014, the FWPD announced it would participate in a countywide demand reduction initiative led by the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Dubbed “Buyer Beware,” the initiative involved increased use of reverse stings to apprehend sex buyers, referrals to services for prostituted women and girls, and online “pop ups” describing the dangers of purchasing sex. The new initiative was designed to reduce the demand for prostitution, change the attitudes and behaviors of men arrested for patronization, and change cultural acceptance for the purchase of sex. The Buyer Beware initiative is a partnership with eight police departments and city attorneys’ offices across King County that are shifting their emphasis to pursue the buyers of commercial sex. The initiative is led by the Organization for Prostitution Survivors and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Participating community organizations include Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), Stolen Youth, and Seattle Against Slavery. Participating law enforcement agencies include the King County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments of Seattle, Des Moines, Kent, Federal Way, Bellevue, and Renton. Buyer Beware brings together local prosecuting authorities with community service organizations and survivors to carry out a comprehensive strategy to reduce demand and facilitate exit from prostitution. The Buyer Beware program’s model emphasizes the prosecution of sex buyers and connecting prostituted people to services. The original goal in 2014 was to reduce demand for commercial sex by 20 percent in two years.
The general approach is essentially the “Nordic Model” or “Equality Model,” which decriminalizes selling sex and shifts to a victim service orientation to prostituted or trafficked persons, but retains legal prohibitions against buying or profiting from the sale of sex. This model can be accomplished without changing prostitution law, through discretionary decisions not to arrest and prosecute prostituted or trafficked persons, even if selling sex remains illegal in state law and local ordinances). The Buyer Beware program places a systematic law enforcement emphasis on arrests and prosecutions of sex buyers, and increasing penalties to deter them. In addition to shifting the emphasis on arrests and victim services, interventions of the Buyer Beware program include John School, Neighborhood Action, and Public Education. Its key elements are:
- Referring sex buyers to “Stopping Sexual Exploitation,” a comprehensive intervention program.
- Collecting fines from arrested sex buyers to fund services for prostituted people.
- Reducing arrests and prosecutions of prostituted persons in favor of referral to services.
- Expanding effective services to assist prostituted people in leaving the life.
- Forming an alliance of public and private employers committed to implementing policies and practices against sex buying.
- Engaging high school and college students on the harm of commercial sexual exploitation.
- Conducting social media campaigns to engage young men on the harms of sex buying.
- Engaging a spectrum of community sectors, including public health, education, business, media and criminal justice to change cultural norms around buying sex.
Key Partners
- Federal Way Police Department
- King County Sheriff’s Department
- Immigration Customs Enforcement Service
- Federal Way Coalition Against Trafficking (FWCAT)
Key Sources
- National Assessment Survey
- Street-Level and Web-Based Reverse Stings:
- “Sting Turns Up Heat on ‘Johns’; Des Moines Sees Rise in Prostitution, Despite Targeting Customers”, Seattle Times, June 21 1993.
- “8 Arrested in Fed. Way Prostitution Sting”, Seattle Times, June 26 1997.
- “FWay Police Arrest 8 in ‘John Patrol’; Prostitution Sting also Nets Boy Who Tried to Warn Men”, Tacoma News Tribune, June 26 1997.
- http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970626&slug=2546557 (1997)
- “The ‘Johns’ and the Law”, Federal Way Mirror, February 23 2004.
- “13 Arrested for Soliciting a Prostitute”, Media Release, Federal Way Police Department, October 31 2006.
- “FWay Sting Nets 13 ‘Johns'”, Tacoma News Tribune, October 31 2006.
- “Federal Way Police Arrest 13 Suspected ‘Johns’ in Prostitution Sting Operation”, Tacoma News Tribune, November 6 2006.
- “Hookers Face Hard Time in Federal Way”, Federal Way Mirror, October 14 2008.
- “Human Trafficking: Washington Works to Stop Demand”, Federal Way Mirror, October 3 2011.
- “Federal Way Police Part of Regional Plan to Reduce Prostitution Demand”, Federal Way Mirror, October 24 2014.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets 8 Arrests at Federal Way Apartment,” Federal Way Mirror, December 29 2015.
- SOAP Orders:
- “City Eyes Law to Let Police Clean Up with SOAP”, Tacoma News Tribune, October 3 2000.
- “City to Step Up Fight against Prostitution”, Federal Way Mirror, June 13 2008.
- Cameras:
- “Camera’s in City’s Core Can Catch Crooks”, Federal Way Mirror, September 11 2007.
- “Federal Way Sets Up Camera Net to Fight Crime”, Seattle Times, May 25 2009.
- Public Education, John School:
- “Criminal Penalties and Fined Related to Prostitution and Commercial Sexual Abuse of Minors.” Report to the Washington State Legislature, Washington State Department of Commerce, December, 2015.
- Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Dead Witness Convicts Man”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, February 17 1982.
- “Slaying Charge Denied”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, February 24 1982.
- “40th Green River Victim Discovered; Girl’s Bones Found Near Federal Way”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, June 1 1988.
- “2 Charged with Using Yacht to Lure Young Girls into Prostitution”, Seattle Times, September 23 1994.
- “Shady Massage Parlors Call Federal Way Home”, Seattle Times, October 17 1994.
- “Mom Guilty of Child Rape, Exploitation”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 5 2001.
- “Three Additional Murder Counts Filed in Green River Killer Case”, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, March 28 2003.
- “Ridgway Pleads Innocent to Latest Murder Charges”, Ellensburg Daily Record, April 5 2003.
- “Man Is Charged after Prostitute Alleges Rape”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 3 2003.
- “Man Accused of Kidnapping 4-Year-Old, Trying to Force Girl’s Mother into Prostitution”, Seattle Times, July 19 2005.
- “Accused of Raping, Pimping Young Girl”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 18 2008.
- “Fiancée Says Man Wanted Her to Be a Prostitute”, Seattle Times, January 19 2008.
- “Man Charged with Raping Girl, Coercing Her into Prostitution”, Seattle Times, January 23 2008.
- “Federal Way Man, 19, Arrested for Kidnapping and Promoting Prostitution”, Seattle Times, October 10 2008.
- “Man Accused of Forcing Kidnapped Woman to Work as Prostitute”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 21 2008.
- “Sex Slavery and Human Trafficking Strikes Federal Way”, Federal Way Mirror, October 24 2008.
- “Seattle Man Convicted of Forcing Girl, 12, into Prostitution”, Seattle Times, April 9 2009.
- “Two Juveniles Involved in Alleged Prostitution Ring”, Federal Way Mirror, July 9 2009.
- “Kent Man Charged in Rape, Abduction of Teen”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 15 2010.
- “Man Charged with Rape and Kidnapping of Federal Way Teen”, Federal Way Mirror, January 15 2010.
- “Undercover Sting Targets Federal Way Pimps, Underage Prostitutes”, Federal Way Mirror, November 15 2010.
- “Charge: Federal Way Man Grabbed Girl Off Street, Attempted Rape”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 17 2011.
- “Human Trafficking Is a Reality in Puget Sound”, Federal Way Mirror, September 15 2011.
- “8 Indicted for Running ‘Bar Girls’ Out of Federal Way Nightclub”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 13 2012.
- “Federal Way Nightclub Owner Indicted”, Seattle Times, January 13 2012.
- “Sex Trafficking: Korean Nightclub Busted in Federal Way”, Federal Way Mirror, January 13 2012.
- “Sex Trafficking Victims Include Federal Way Youth”, Federal Way Mirror, November 29 2012.
- “Federal Way Fights Sex Trafficking”, Federal Way Mirror, January 5 2013.
- “Ending the Demand: Ex-Prostitute Escapes Pimp and Reclaims Her Life”, Federal Way Mirror, January 17 2013.
- “Missing Federal Way Girl Added on Trucking Trailers”, Federal Way Mirror, February 26 2013.
- “Former Nightclub Owner Sentenced in Prostitution Case”, Federal Way Mirror, March 8 2013.
- “Charges: Federal Way Man Bought Kids Books, Toys for Disabled Women He Raped, Pimped”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 2 2014.
- “Federal Way Man Charged with Raping, Pimping Severely Disabled Women”, Federal Way Mirror, March 3 2014.
- http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/six-arrested-in-bust-of-western-washington-prostitution-ring/ (2017)
- https://komonews.com/news/local/9-arrested-in-rest-area-prostitution-sting-in-federal-way (2018)
- Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area;
- “Dead Witness Convicts Man”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, February 17 1982.
- “Slaying Charge Denied”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, February 24 1982.
- “40th Green River Victim Discovered; Girl’s Bones Found Near Federal Way”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, June 1 1988.
- “Police Seek Suspect in Rape of Prostitute”, Seattle Times, March 13 1990.
- “Dead Woman Identified as Prostitute; Strangulation, Beating Killed Woman Found in Federal Way”, Tacoma News Tribune, October 30 1997.
- “Federal Way Body Identified”, Seattle Times, October 30 1997.
- “Third Strike Gets Rapist Life”, Eugene Register-Guard, October 31 1999.
- “Man Who Attacked Prostitutes Gets 49 1/2 Years”, Seattle Times, January 29 2000.
- “Three Additional Murder Counts Filed in Green River Killer Case”, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, March 28 2003.
- “Ridgway Pleads Innocent to Latest Murder Charges”, Ellensburg Daily Record, April 5 2003.
- “Ridgway Went from Having Sex with Prostitutes ‘to Just Plain Killing ‘Em'”, Seattle Times, November 6 2003.
- “Undercover Sting Targets Federal Way Pimps, Underage Prostitutes”, Federal Way Mirror, November 15 2010.
- “Man Admits to Torturing Seattle Prostitute”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 25 2013.
- Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Federal Way Fears Influx of SeaTac Prostitutes”, Seattle Times, March 28 1990.
- “Prostitution OK for Awhile”, Lodi News-Sentinel, March 29 1990.
- “Crackdown”, Ellensburg Daily Record, April 2 1990.
- “Get Tough on Massage Parlors, Federal Way Told”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 5 1990.
- “8,000 Names on ‘John’ List, Say Prosecutors; Clients Can Testify or Risk Charges”, Seattle Times, October 2 1992.
- “7 Held in Escort-Service Sting”, Seattle Times, November 2 1992.
- “Five Charged in Prostitution Investigations”, Seattle Times, November 5 1992.
- “Shady Massage Parlors Call Federal Way Home”, Seattle Times, October 17 1994.
- “Federal Way Tackles Massage-Parlor Issue after Scathing Report”, Seattle Times, October 24 1994.
- “Vice Charges Dismissed in Tanning Case; Police Angry Target of Prostitution Probe Still in Business”, Seattle Times, November 1 1994.
- “Federal Way Takes Aim at Sin Trade; City Seeks to Curb Prostitution Growth”, Tacoma News Tribune, November 4 1994.
- “Pair Admit Running Prostitution Ring”, Seattle Times, December 22 1994.
- “Massage Parlor Ordinance Proposed”, Seattle Times, January 10 1995.
- “FWay Tightens Rules for Massage Parlors”, Tacoma News Tribune, March 23 1995.
- “Sentence in Prostitution Case”, Seattle Times, April 1 1995.
- “Federal Way Files Charges against Deja Vu Dancers”, Tacoma News Tribune, August 11 1995.
- “FWay Council to Get Close Look at Nude Dancing; Police Film Shows Deja Vu Activities”, Tacoma News Tribune, August 12 1995.
- “Hard Times on Pacific Highway South; Motels a ‘Last Refuge’ for Those without Rent Deposits”, Seattle Times, May 13 1998.
- “City to Step Up Fight against Prostitution”, Federal Way Mirror, September 16 2000.
- “Inside Federal Way’s Motels: Crime and Transient Life on Pac Highway”, Federal Way Mirror, January 6 2012.
State | Washington |
Type | City |
Population | 84819 |
Location |
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