The police currently work very hard to perform dangerous and degrading sting operations. What do they get for their hard work? The prep gets an embarrassing evening at central booking and a routine "PBJ" by a judge. I would like to suggest that the preps should get a _real_ fine or citation-- something north of $2000. This would be more in line with the cost and risk of the police work involved with a sting, and would be consistent with the best practices in cities which actually care about reducing crime. The publicity of a drastically increased fine, alone, would curtail some johns.

Also, whatever happened to plain old public humiliation? Now that we have the internet, ANYONE can create a free flickr account and post photos and license plate numbers of suspected johns. If publicized, word would get around very quickly about who was photographed and become a strong deterrent. Jotting down numbers and sending letters is nice, but to get addresses from the plate numbers requires interfacing with the police department's red-tape which is a colossal pain.

Actually, what it will do is point out that someone who lives in a neighborhood with a lot of drug and prostitution activity has reported that tag to the police. Without something like sworn testimony from an identified accuser, or documented pictures, it could just as easily be someone trying to get someone else in trouble -- I can think of a few individuals I've gotten into disagreements with who might be willing to make an accusation like that if they knew they couldn't be held accountable for doing so. There are also people who might be upset with you for some other reason (if you cut them off on the Beltway, for example), who might be willing to add a tag to a list of cruising vehicles. Given the recent news of the State Police and their surveillance of some harmless peace activists, and the hash that the city parking enforcement crew has made of keeping records, perhaps this idea ought to just be shot down before it ever gets started.

The idea of "they love it because they're trying to find ways to empower themselves" combined with the idea of anonymous reports to law enforcement ought to make a shiver run down your back. Maybe these folks are all noble upstanding citizens who would never dream of hurting anyone else by telling a lie... but I have my doubts. I think this sort of anonymous intimidation ought to be discouraged -- if you see a hooker or a dealer on your block, don't fiddle around with writing down tags, just tell 'em to move along!

My neighbor frequents prostitutes in the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay area. I get the priviledge of watching him leave his house with his "Aloha" light on and come back with a lady in his automobile. This has been a practice of his for several years and he gets away with it. It is sickening to know this is happening and there is nothing we can do about it.

I live in Upper Fells Point where parking is atrocious after about 7pm. I drive by Chubby's "Gentleman's Lounge" and the Colonial Inn multiple times during my search pattern(because I don't like to walk more than a few blocks alone and won't park on streets like Eastern). If my parents (who own the car I drive) were to get this letter, I would be infuriated. I can't get on board with this program, because I think there are just too many innocent people who risk their privacy being violated. I'm all for the discussion though, bring on the creativity!