Willimantic, CT
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 | ✓ |
Willimantic is a census-designated place of approximately 19,000 residents, located in Windham County in southwest Connecticut. Prostitution is a persistent problem in the area, generating complaints to police by both residents and business owners, and has been repeatedly linked to the city’s drug market. Serious problems associated with local prostitution activity include a serial rapist who specifically targeted prostituted persons in Willimantic: in 1997, a man was convicted of sexually assaulting and then refusing to pay four women offering prostitution acts.
Among their efforts to address such issues, the Willimantic Police Department has conducted periodic street-level reverse stings since at least 1995, if not earlier. The operations, which have typically used one or more undercover female officers as decoys, have been frequently carried out in conjunction with narcotics investigations. Once arrested, sex buyers have had their names and other identifying information released to the public. One example is a reverse sting in 2015 that produced the arrest of three sex buyers.
Key Partners
- Willimantic Police Department
Key Sources
Sex Buyer Arrests, Identity Disclosure:
- “Four Charged with Prostitution Offenses after Willimantic Argument,” Hartford Courant, February 10 2016.
Street-Level Reverse Stings, Identity Disclosure:
- “Willimantic Merchants Concerned about Prostitution,” Hartford Courant, August 7 1995.
- “Police Arrest 22 People on Prostitution Charges,” New Haven Register, July 11 1998.
- “Prostitution Crackdown (WILLIMANTIC)”, Hartford Courant, July 11 1998.
- “15 People Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Hartford Courant, August 21 1999.
- “Sting Nets Alleged Prostitutes, Johns,” Willimantic Chronicle, June 23 2000.
- “Prostitution Sting Yields 18 Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 4 2001.
- “Willimantic Prostitution Sting Nets 10,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 8 2003.
- “11 ‘Johns’ Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” Willimantic Chronicle, November 21 2003.
- “Five People Nabbed in Drug, Prostitution Sting,” Willimantic Chronicle, November 4 2005.
- “4 Men Arrested in Willimantic Prostitution Sting,” Willimantic Chronicle, October 23 2010.
- “85-Year-Old Man Busted in Prostitution Raid”, Windham Today, October 23 2010.
- “Willimantic Drug, Prostitution Sweep Leads to Eight Arrests”, Norwich Bulletin, July 8 2011.
- http://fox61.com/willimantic-police-arrest-3-in-prostitution-sting (2015)
Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- “Man Guilty in Assault of Prostitute,” Hartford Courant, December 12 1997.
- “Jury Quickly Convicts Man of Abduction, Rape,” Hartford Courant, May 12 2000.
- “Man Charged with Rape, Kidnapping,” Willimantic Chronicle, August 2 2001.
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Vice Sweep in City Nets 19,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 24 2000.
- “Prostitution Sting Nabs 10 Downtown,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 29 2000.
- “City Prostitution Sting Nets Four Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, May 11 2001.
- “Four Arrested on Drug, Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 14 2001.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets 11 More Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 20 2001.
- “Repeat Offender Arrested in Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, October 22 2001.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets 2 Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, November 24 2001.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets Another Arrest,” Willimantic Chronicle, December 10 2001.
- “Main Street Sweep Nets Arrests of Six,” Willimantic Chronicle, April 17 2002.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets Eight Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, May 9 2002.
- “Local Woman Arrested for Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, June 19 2002.
- “Five Charged in Prostitution Sting in City,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 8 2002.
- “Prostitute Arrested in Sting,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 15 2002.
- “Police Sweep Targets Heroin Woes”, Hartford Courant, January 22 2003.
- “Women to Face Prostitution Count,” Willimantic Chronicle, March 19 2003.
- “Two Face Prostitution Charges in Willimantic,” Willimantic Chronicle, April 12 2003.
- “Prostitution Arrest,” Willimantic Chronicle, October 14 2003.
- “Chipping Away at Drug, Prostitution Problems”, Hartford Courant, October 19 2003.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets Two,” Willimantic Chronicle, December 15 2003.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets Three Women,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 2 2004.
- “Woman Arrested on Prostitution Charges,” Willimantic Chronicle, August 13 2004.
- “Child’s Tale Ends in Prostitution Arrests,” Willimantic Chronicle, August 27 2004.
- “Three Arrested on Prostitution Charges,” Willimantic Chronicle, September 16 2004.
- “Willi Police Arrest Three for Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, November 29 2004.
- “Police Arrest Alleged Downtown Prostitute,” Willimantic Chronicle, June 30 2005.
- “Police Charge Woman with Soliciting a Cop,” Willimantic Chronicle, August 16 2007.
- “Three Arrested in Willimantic Prostitution Sting”, Hartford Courant, August 31 2007.
- “Prostitution Is Making a Comeback,” Willimantic Chronicle, October 18 2007.
- “Woman Charged with Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 9 2008.
- “Woman Charged with Prostitution,” Willimantic Chronicle, July 11 2008.
- “Heroin Town”, CBS News, February 11 2009.
- “Once a Drug Haven, Willimantic Sees Positive Changes”, CBS/WFSB-TV 3, November 10 2010.
- “Undercover Corporal Makes Two Prostitution Arrests, Willimantic Police Say,” Hartford Courant, September 9 2013.
| State | Connecticut |
| Type | City |
| Population | 18669 |
| Location |
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