Texas Counties Say No to ‘Prostitution Diversion’ Mandate

Several Texas counties are opting out of a state law requiring
the launch of controversial “prostitution diversion” programs. The
2013 law ordered counties with more than 200,000 people to start
such programs and, in some counties, has spawned a robust cycle of
police stings and social-services meddling aimed at “treating
prostitutes like victims rather than criminals”.

The state allowed for counties to apply for a waiver, however,
and Dallas-neighboring Collin and Denton Counties did so soon after
the law’s passing. “It’s just not an issue in Denton County,” Judge
Mary Horn told The Dallas Morning News. “We have
not and we will not be doing anything on this.”

“We have not and we will not be doing anything on
this.” Aren’t those beautiful words to hear coming from a
state official? But of course not everyone’s taking kindly to this
laissez-faire attitude toward the sex lives of others. Proponents
of the diversion programs seem to think Collin and Denton county
officials are being Pollyanna-ish about the problem: 

Renee Breazeale, a senior case manager in the Dallas County
district attorney’s office who started the program in 2007 with
Dallas police Sgt. Louis Fellini, said she also isn’t surprised by
counties opting out. “We’re a metropolitan area, so we’re a little
more open-minded,” Breazeale said. “If you’re in a community that
doesn’t really kind of force those issues forward, it’s really easy
to say, ‘No, that doesn’t exist here.'” 

In “open-minded” places like Dallas, monthly sting operations
serve as the cornerstone of the program: 

Police go out and round up women and bring them back to a
staging area, where they receive information, counseling and a run
through the legal process.

As with similar programs in Arizona and New York City, those who meet certain criteria
can opt for a “rehab” program instead of jail time. In contrast,
the oh-so-backward folk of Denton and Collin counties seem to think
that setting up special task forces and elaborate operations to
ferret out people who may be having sex for money is a bit
silly: 

Officials in Denton and Collin counties say that
prostitutes, if they are in their jurisdictions, aren’t at the
street level. They are hidden from view in brothels or on posts on
websites such as Craigslist and Backpage.com. Busting those
prostitutes requires more proactive and lengthy investigations,
police officials say.

(…) Plano police spokesman David Tilley said they only
occasionally get complaints about a lone prostitute roaming the
streets. And, he said, “getting one every so often doesn’t really
justify putting anyone to look at those things on a regular
basis.”

“I kind of have to agree with Collin County on this that it’s
not a problem that has reached a level where putting together a
group would get a lot of attention or a lot of traction—at least in
our city,” Tilley said.

It’s not much, but… in what’s generally an endless stream of
cities, counties, and states competing to overhype the problem of
prostitution—and the need for ever-increasing state power and
resources to combat it—any slight nod to reality is noteworthy and
refreshing.