Haverhill, MA
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
|---|---|
| Auto Seizure | ✓ |
| Buyer Arrests | ✓ |
| Cameras | ✓ |
| Community Service | ✓ |
| Employment Loss | ✓ |
| Identity Disclosure | ✓ |
| IT Based Tactics | ✓ |
| John School | ✓ |
| Letters | ✓ |
| License Suspension | ✓ |
| Neighborhood Action | ✓ |
| Public Education | ✓ |
| Reverse Stings | ✓ |
| SOAP Orders | ✓ |
| Web Stings | ✓ |
Haverhill is a city of approximately 67,000 residents, located in northeast Massachusetts near Salem and Lawrence. To combat prostitution in the city, the Haverhill Police Department conducts reverse stings several times per year. When conducting operations at street-level, HPD officers have often conduct both reverse stings and stings targeting prostituted women and sex buyers in tandem. First, officers pose as sex buyers and intercept prostituted women. Once arrested, the prostituted women are replaced with undercover female officers. The city routinely publicizes the names and identities of arrested sex buyers. Media reports suggest these tactics have been used since 1995, if not earlier. In 2009, one of the men arrested in a reverse sting was ordered to perform community service and to submit to regular alcohol and drug screenings.
Loss of employment is another consequence of buying sex that has occurred within the city. For example, in August, 2007, an arrested sex buyer resigned as the executive director of the Haverhill Boys Club. The club’s board of directors has accepted the man’s resignation, after his arrest in a prostitution sting. The board had suspended the man after he was charged in Kingston, N.H., the prior month. The man had been with the Boys Club for more than 20 years, working his way up from athletic director to program director to executive director, a high-profile position in which he helped raise money for the club and its programs for boys. The man was one of six men arrested on charges of soliciting prostitution when they responded to an advertisement on the Craigslist website.
Key Partners
- Haverhill Police Department
Key Sources
National Assessment Survey and Interview
Street-Level Reverse Stings:
- “Prostitution Thrives amid Cleanup Bids; Fears of AIDS, Arrests Seem to Deter Few,” Boston Globe, May 15 1994.
- “Eleven Arrested in Haverhill Prostitution Sting,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, April 20 2008.
- “Police: Prostitution Sting Leads to Cocaine Dealer,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, September 18 2008.
- “Police Target Prostitutes in City, Ten to 20 Are Working Haverhill Streets, Deputies Say,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, February 6 2009.
- “City Fights Prostitution Problem: Police Make 26 Arrests in 6 Months,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, August 13 2009.
- “7 Arrested during Hooker Sting in Haverhill,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, September 12 2009.
- “Police: Stings Are Helping Quell Prostitution in Haverhill,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, September 15 2009.
- “Haverhill Works to Eradicate Prostitution,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, September 26 2009.
- “Man Accused of Trying to Rape Beach Jogger; Level 3 Offender Was Freed in ’07,” Boston Globe, September 30 2009.
- https://www.eagletribune.com/news/local_news/police-stings-are-helping-quell-prostitution-in-haverhill (2009)
- “14 Nabbed in Acre Neighborhood Prostitution Sting,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, March 9 2010.
- “Five Arrested in Haverhill Prostitution Sting,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, July 2 2010.
- “Haverhill Sting Nets ‘Johns’ Looking for Hookers,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, July 3 2010.
- “Police: Prostitution Sting Nets Man with Illegal Gun,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, August 31 2010.
Sex Buyer Fired or Resigned Due to Arrest:
- https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article (2007)
- https://www.eagletribune.com/news/local_news/boys-club-director-suspended (2007)
- https://www.eagletribune.com/news/local_news/menzie-resigns-as-director-of-boys-club/ (2007)
Sex Trafficking in the Area:
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “A Lesson Learned on the Streets of Haverhill,” Boston Globe, December 11 1994.
- “Police: Prostitutes Were Operating in House across Street from Haverhill Church; Two Women Arrested in Raid,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, October 17 2008.
- “Police: Woman Sold Sex in Massage Parlor, Downtown Building Raided after Complaints from Public,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, March 25 2009.
- “Police Target Notorious Building near Haverhill Church, Raided for Drugs This Week, Was Site of Prostitution Operation,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, July 11 2009.
- “Men Seeking Prostitutes Follow Teenage Girls, Haverhill Police Fear Neighborhood Girls Are in Danger,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, October 6 2009.
- “Woman Charged with Prostitution Held without Bail,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, June 12 2010.
- “Woman Ran Prostitution Business in Motel Room, Owner Says,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, October 8 2010.
- “Sex Arrests at Massage Business, Haverhill Parlor Owner, Worker Facing Prostitution Charges,” Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, January 14 2012.
| State | Massachusetts |
| Type | City |
| Population | 67361 |
| Location |
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