The Dallas City Council amended its prostitution ordinance last week, claiming it gives officers a tool to arrest all those involved in the criminal act, but acknowledging it doesn’t address the bigger issues of slavery and human trafficking.
District 7 Councilman Adam Bazaldua voted against it, saying the amendment perpetuates a “Not In My Backyard” mentality rather than providing services and a way out for a vulnerable population.
“This is us catering to NIMBYism and allowing for ‘out of sight, out of mind’ to be the answer,” he said. “That is not humane. That is not just.”
It allows women to be harassed for being involved in something they didn’t choose to be involved in, he added.
“This is a tool similar to other tools we’ve seen, like panhandling, that is more about those who complain about it than helping and getting to the root cause of the issue,” Bazaldua said. “This is just another example where I believe we are approving language that is essentially perpetuating the problem. We are targeting victims … This doesn’t help the victims of sex trafficking on our streets. This may help people who are driving on their way to and from work to not see what they don’t want to see, but that does not help overall the problem that is on our streets. In fact, it probably pushes it into the dark more.”
While Bazaldua cast the lone vote against the amended ordinance in the Oct. 11 council meeting, he wasn’t the only one with concerns about the overarching issue of human trafficking.
The City of Dallas Prostitution Ordinance
The amendment approved last week adds definitions and some complicated language about factors that must be considered when determining whether a person has “manifested the purpose and intent of inducing, enticing, soliciting, or procuring another to commit an act of prostitution.”
The amendment also provides a penalty not to exceed $500.
Basically, according to City Attorney Tammy Palomino, it gives the ordinance more teeth for Dallas police to make arrests.
“This language is not vague, it is not arbitrary, and it applies to the buyer, the seller, and the panderer,” Palomino said. “We believe this is a very solid approach.”
District 6 resident William Martin said he sees prostitution on his way to work every day.
“Rewriting the ordinance is a great step forward,” he said. “Hopefully that’s going to work for us, but it’s not going to solve the human trafficking problem and acknowledge that it is actually human trafficking.”
Dallas Police Major Devin Paulk, commander of the Special Investigations Division, said the majority of the women involved in such an act are offered services. Not all accept the help.
Bazaldua pointed out that such calls are not considered a priority for patrol and implied that the amended language “is not just more of a probable cause tool to harass those who are victims of sex trafficking versus actually getting to the root of the problem.”
Paulk said police understand the human trafficking aspect and work tirelessly to arrest and investigate the individuals perpetrating that crime.
“By the same token, we also have a duty to assist the citizens of Dallas in taking care of the quality of life issues that they’re experiencing in front of their businesses,” he said.
Does Dallas’ prostitution ordinance go far enough?
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold said stronger wording is needed to improve areas of the community where illicit activity has gotten out of control.
“We need it in order to get quality of life for economic development,” she said. “We can’t get decent housing. We can’t get the level of equity that we’re looking for without having some sense of stability and public safety.”
Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, said the matter was already discussed at the committee level and no questions were raised.
“I think my colleague has the right heart for this,” Mendelsohn said. “I think the issue is about wanting to protect women and not criminalize this. The reality is that prostitution is not ‘Pretty Woman’ with Julia Roberts. It’s sexual slavery and it’s abuse. It’s exploitation. It’s human trafficking. The potential for violence is always present. It’s the continued victimization of young women.”
She explained that the Dallas Police Department needs such a tool to help those young women.
“We’re going to provide it for you,” she said. “I’m very much in support of this.”
Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis said that while the ordinance appears to be punitive and targeting a “certain population,” it ultimately gives police a point of entry to put an end to abuse and slavery.
Paulk noted that the ordinance provides an enforcement mechanism by which they can arrest “johns and pimps,” not just prostitutes.
“We of course would like higher charges, and that is our end goal, especially with the pimps, but sometimes this is that tool to start the investigation,” he said.
