La Mesa, CA
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 | ✓ |
La Mesa is a city of approximately 61,000 residents, located in San Diego County, about nine miles east of Downtown San Diego in Southern California. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the city and the surrounding areas for decades, and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.
Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. The La Mesa Police Department began conducting street-level reverse stings in 1994. Operations plant an undercover female officer as a decoy, and arrest the men who solicit her for sex. To discourage sex buyers from reoffending, police routinely release the names and identifying information of arrestees to the news media.
Key Sources
Street-Level Reverse Stings:
- “Santee Official’s Future Is Clouded by Vice Arrest,” San Diego Union, August 21 1985.
- “DA Drops Case against Santee City Councilman,” San Diego Union, September 12 1985.
- “Santee Official Is Target of Posters,” San Diego Union, September 25 1985.
- “Prostitution Is a Problem, But Is Publishing the Photos of Johns News or Punishment?,” San Diego Union-Tribune, August 15 1994.
- “Get the Picture? La Mesa Plans to Publish Photos of Prostitution Solicitors,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 27 1994.
- “Prostitution Arrests Climb Despite La Mesa’s Efforts,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10 1995.
- “Ladies Still Waiting in La Mesa; Despite ‘Johns’ Law, Hookers Are Here and There,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 29 1995.
- “Four Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” San Diego Union-Tribune, January 21 2004.
- “8 Arrested in La Mesa Prostitution Sting,” CBS/KFMB-TV 8, February 13 2007.
- “Activity Period: May 7 through May 14, 2012,” La Mesa Police News and Information, La Mesa Police Department, May 14 2012.
Identity Disclosure:
- “Prostitution Is a Problem, But Is Publishing the Photos of Johns News or Punishment?,” San Diego Union-Tribune, August 15 1994.
- “Get the Picture? La Mesa Plans to Publish Photos of Prostitution Solicitors,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 27 1994.
- “Prostitution Arrests Climb Despite La Mesa’s Efforts,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10 1995.
- “Ladies Still Waiting in La Mesa; Despite ‘Johns’ Law, Hookers Are Here and There,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 29 1995.
- “Prostitutes’ Photos, Case Details Put Online,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 30 2007.
Background on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the Area:
- “La Mesa Council Hearing to Decide Fate of Nude Spa,” San Diego Union, July 16 1985.
- “Ex-Officer Indicted in Probe; Pandering, Pimping Are among Charges,” San Diego Union-Tribune, September 17 1992.
- “La Mesa Seeks Tighter Control of Massage Parlors in City,” San Diego Union-Tribune, March 3 2004.
- “Cities Shut (Motel) Doors on Prostitution,” San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14 1997.
- “La Mesa Massage Parlors Lose Bid to Stay at Present Locations,” San Diego Union-Tribune, June 26 1997.
- “School Board Member Arrested,” San Diego Union-Tribune, February 13 2004.
- “La Mesa Police Shut down Brothel, Arrest Four,” San Diego Union-Tribune, October 12 2007.
- “Prostitution Arrests in La Mesa,” San Diego Union-Tribune, January 29 2009.
- https://patch.com/lamesa/woman-20-arrested-on-charge-of-loitering-for-prostitution (2011)
- https://patch.com/lamesa/undercover-prostituion-sting-of-la-mesa-massage-parlors (2013)
- https://www.latimes.com/california-human-trafficking-operation (2022)
Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- “Rape-Case Suspect Faces New Charges,” San Diego Union, May 14 1988.
- “Prostitute Tells of Rape, Robbery,” San Diego Union-Tribune, August 27 2004.
| State | California |
| Type | City |
| Population | 60720 |
| Location |
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