Dorset Police has arrested 12 men on suspicion of kerb
crawling as part of an operation to get prostitution off the
streets of Bournemouth.
The men, aged between 26 and 66, all from the Dorset and
Hampshire areas, were arrested in a recent operation that combined
visible and undercover police activity.Sergeant James Layfield who
led the operation said: “This operation is about ridding the
streets of east Bournemouth of prostitution and associated drug use
and violence.
“During the last few weeks we’ve focussed on
targeting men who appear to have been trawling the streets looking
for and picking up prostitutes for their own self gratification. We
have also had reports of men approaching law-abiding local women
going about their daily routine.
“In terms of the women working as prostitutes,
what a majority of these men are unaware of is that many of these
women are victims. They are victims of sexual abuse, drug abuse and
violence and by using them these men are victimising them even
further.”
To make those arrested aware of their part in
victimising these women, six of the men have been ordered to attend
a rehabilitation programme.
These men were first-time offenders and
admitted their guilt in police interview, making them eligible to
attend Hampshire Police’s Change Programme where they will be
educated on the consequences of using prostitutes.
A 59-year-old Bournemouth man has been charged
with soliciting a person for the purpose of prostitution. Four men,
aged 26, 36, 62 and 65 and all from Bournemouth, were given police
cautions. Another man was released without charge.
During the operation four women were arrested
and charged with soliciting.
The women, a 22-year-old and a 37-year-old,
both from Bournemouth, and a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, both of
no fixed abode, have been bailed to appear at court.
Sergeant Layfield continued: “This is just
part of what is a long-term approach to dealing with prostitution
and associated drug use and violence in this area.
“The aim is to get women who are working on
the streets signed up to Engagement and Support Orders.
“Under the orders, women are required to
engage with specialist support services to address the underlying
causes of their behaviour such as drug abuse – thereby supporting
them and keeping them from working on the streets.”
In addition, six men and a woman were arrested
on suspicion of drugs offences.
A 29-year-old man from Liverpool, a
29-year-old man from Bournemouth and a 24-year-old woman of no
fixed abode, have been released on bail while enquires continue.
Two men, aged 30 and 34, both from Bournemouth, and a man, aged 37,
from Christchurch, were given police cautions. A 37-year-old
Bournemouth man was given a conditional discharge.
Sergeant Layfield said: “In targeting
prostitution, this operation also aims to get both violence and
drug abuse off the streets and, in doing so, not only offers
support to vulnerable women but makes Bournemouth a better place to
live for the majority of law-abiding residents.”
This activity is part of a sustained period of police action
in Bournemouth which has already seen 30 arrests made between
Wednesday, 1 September and Tuesday, 7 September 2010 with warrants
under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 being executed at addresses in
the Boscombe, Lansdowne and Westbourne areas of Bournemouth.
So far, 23 men and two women have been charged with the supply of
Class A drugs.
Two men and one woman have been released on bail while enquiries
continue, and two men have been released without charge.
Six men, aged 17, 22, 31, 34, 36 and 41, and one 37-year-old woman,
all from the Bournemouth area, have pleaded guilty to drugs
offences.