HPD fighting vice with new approach

‘Work smarter, not harder’ in battle against prostitution, officers are told

A recent spike in the number of Houston Police Department arrests for prostitution is part of a new approach to fighting vice crime but isn’t just a sheer quest for higher numbers, said the department’s person in charge of the effort.

“The vice division is changing what we used to do,” Capt. Dan Harris, division head, said Wednesday. “I keep telling the officers numbers are important, but that’s output. I’m interested in outcome. We can arrest prostitutes all day long, but there will be more coming in to take their place. Let’s work smarter, not harder.”

So, the 20-plus arrests in about four days last week on prostitution-related charges weren’t necessarily the result of a sting, although the division still does them, he said.

“Arrests go up and down, but we’re interested in effects, not the numbers specifically,” he said.

In March, the department announced that more than 60 men had been caught in a sting operation as they allegedly tried to pay for sex at a fake modeling studio police opened in southwest Houston.

One reason the division is shifting its focus is the realization that some prostitutes are victims of human trafficking, said Harris.

In July, HPD made 114 prostitution arrests and identified seven, including three juveniles, as human trafficking victims, he said.

“Here’s the conundrum for law enforcement,” he said. “You want to help people, but you have to make the arrest to get them the help they need.”