Modus Operandi (21 page)

dates arranged for her by a prostitute friend or the prostitute's pimp.

What is a very common sight in New York City is for the pimps to be wandering around the Port Authority Terminal, which is the largest bus terminal in the United States. As these runaway or throwaway children enter the Port Authority, they are overwhelmed by the vastness and are easy to spot as new to the area. The pimps, who are male, frequent the coffee shops and rest areas of the Port Authority and attempt to strike up a conversation with these runaways. They offer them shelter for the night or possibly a part-time job or some money. They want to build up a friendship so that they can have this girl dependent on them. Some of them may actually come right out and request that they work for them as prostitutes. However, most of them state that they would be willing to have these women work as escorts for young men who need affection and attention at social events.

These young women, unaware of city life, enter into these relationships with pimps not knowing that it is really a front for hardcore prostitution. Eventually, the pimp moves from friendship to initiating the girl into prostitution either by raping the girl himself, or having multiple members of his circle of pimps rape her repeatedly until she gets accustomed to rough sex.

The curious relationship between prostitutes and pimps, to whom they turn over a large part of their earnings, is seen as an attempt by the women to overcome loneliness and form a relationship with someone who seems to be lower than themselves.

Once the girl is degraded into this type of life, she becomes the pimp's servant and works for him where and when he tells her to. In return for these services, the pimp will give the girl free room and board, and, of course, she must have sex with him or any of his friends whenever they desire. Eventually, some street walkers will move from one pimp to another. However, if she moves, it will be a tremendous distance away from the original pimp, as pimps have certain territories and zones. The girl is only supplied with free room and board as long as she works for the pimp. Should she decide to go out on her own, she must work even harder to make money to have a place to stay. Some women who successfully do go on their own and escape from the pimps will arrange to live with other hookers so that they can share the rent.

Eventually, street walkers will move outside lawful society when they get arrested. After a time, the arrest experience is viewed as a simple occupational hazard, much like overstock in a regular retail business. Eventually, the prostitute becomes stabilized in her calling, finds her friends almost exclusively in this type of industry, and acquires a recognized status as a prostitute.

The Call Girl

In the upper echelons of prostitution is the call girl who usually maintains her own apartment and keeps a book, in which she lists the names and phone numbers of her clients. Generally, she responds to calls, although she may also use her book of names to solicit. Most of the call girls encountered by the police have a deep hatred for men, demonstrate a pattern of lesbianism, and have very strong suicidal tendencies. Additionally, most of these women are characterized by having been rejected by both parents or they have a history of being sexually abused, sometimes prostitution is used as an attempt to replace affection that was missing during childhood.

In the 1990s, the typical call girl is equipped not only with a residence from which to operate, but also with a beeper and cellular phone. The call girl usually escalates to this level after working for a short time as a street walker. However, it should be noted that not many street walkers make it to call girl status. It takes a special kind of woman to elevate herself, gain enough money to go out on her own, and operate this way without being attached to pimps who dominate her. In effect, they have the same spirit of entre-preneurship as do persons who open up their own business.

The call girls we have encountered have ranged from the street walker who elevated herself to housewives and college students desiring to make extra money. Recently there was a call girl arrested in Princeton, New Jersey. It was later discovered that she was a police officer's wife operating out of her home. She had an appointment booked for one particular businessman when another steady client requested the exact same time. After she accidently divulged the name of the first client to the second client, there was an altercation involving these two gentlemen, which they both ultimately reported to the police. Of course, neither gentleman disclosed that they were clients of the woman, they simply stated that they had information that she was a prostitute. The police officer, who worked the four to twelve shift, never knew that his wife was out of the house, as every time he called her she answered the phone. She programmed her home phone to forward calls to her cellular phone so that she could pick up the phone wherever she went. She was home during the day when her husband was there but, while he was out on patrol, she was cruising the streets also, in a different type of business.

Massage Parlors

The massage parlor has come to be regarded as a type of illegal brothel and is often located within the neighborhood shopping district. Massage parlors are usually relatively inconspicuous. There's not much publicity or advertisement, and the outer facade of the building is not very ostentatious or enticing to the casual shopper. Frequently, these massage parlors advertise through small classified ads in local papers.

Police employ a method called the
duken
to close down massage parlors. The duken entails having a plainclothes police detective accost an unsuspecting victim about to enter the parlor. The officer will say something like, "We know who you are and what you are doing here, would you like your wife to find out about it?" Out of fear, the victim will introduce the officer to the employees of the massage parlor as a friend of his who wishes their services.

Once the detective gains entry, he plays the part of the customer coming in for the first time. The detective cannot carry a gun, identification cards, handcuffs or any object that would make the owner or employees of the massage parlor suspicious. Like the other patrons the officer then receives a massage.

Smart prostitution houses always tell their clients to go into a room, remove all their clothes, and wait for their girl. This is because most police departments will not allow their officers to remove their underwear when investigating houses of prostitution. And of course these prostitutes know all about this!

At no time may the detective suggest anything of a sexual nature to the masseuse. There must only be solicitation on the woman's part. The masseuse might attempt to sexually arouse the client while massaging his genitals, but at this point there is absolutely no cause for arrest. As an enticement to get involved in sexual intercourse or oral sex many of these massage parlors will have televisions showing X-rated movies. Only after the masseuse suggests sexual intercourse or oral sex and states a monetary fee is she liable for arrest. At this time the officer may make an arrest even though no actual intercourse or oral sex took place. Massage parlors usually employ only a few women as masseuses. Approximately two women do the massaging and soliciting. Their ages range from the mid-twenties to the mid-forties.

The Drug Addict Prostitute

A relatively recent addition to the world of prostitution, particularly in the United States, is the drug-addicted prostitute. Like the male drug addict, the female addict finds that after a time she must turn to an illegal activity to support her expensive drug habit. As males turn to burglary and robbery, women turn to prostitution.

A large percentage of street walkers are addicts. Call girls are not generally addicted. It is estimated that 90 percent of female addicts engage in prostitution at one time or another because prostitution is a quick source of the funds necessary to support their drug habit and the drug habits of the men with whom they live.

The Male Prostitute

In many large cities, particularly New York, male prostitutes have emerged as street walkers competing not for the needs of women seeking men, of course, but for the needs of men seeking men. Unfortunately, these male street walkers are young boys called
chicken hawks,
sometimes as young as nine or ten. These boys are the throwaway, disposable children of this century. Faced with no way to survive other than selling their bodies, they cruise the streets along with other prostitutes.

You would expect that these boys would appeal to strange, deviant, weird, homosexual men, however, the opposite is true. As with regular female prostitution, many of the clients for these chicken hawks themselves are married and have children. It is a type of sexual fantasy that they, of course, cannot get within their homes unless they sexually abuse the male children.

Many male prostitutes dress to appeal to both types of johns. Males cross-dress as transvestites and appear to be female. Depending on the type of john, many of the boys are beaten or sometimes killed when the male client finds out in the middle of the sex act that the prostitute is actually male. These types of injury occur hundreds of times in New York City alone over the course of a year.

Prostitution and the Mob

Prostitution is and has always been one of the steady money makers of organized crime. However, the mob has denied any major interest in this field ever since 1936 when Charles "Lucky" Luciano was sent to prison by a crusading New York district attorney. Luciano's operation included over two hundred prostitutes housed in at least ten, four to six bedroom apartments. His neighborhood managers directed the women to locations where the business was heavier than usual on certain nights. His bookers transported them between neighborhoods to achieve the consumer appeal inherent in new faces of prostitutes. His collectors and housekeepers made certain the prostitutes turned over the agreed percentage of their earnings. His icemen paid off in the police stations and court rooms. His strong arm men or enforcers maintained discipline and settled disputes. His bail-bondsmen, attorneys and physicians administered to the needs of the enterprise handling an arrest or ill health. A linen firm, which Lucky had an interest in, supplied the towels and sheets for his prostitution business.

This enterprise was the first concrete example of wraparound organized crime operations and it made a great deal of money. However, it was also a landmark case that revealed the need to insulate top men from the operations of a criminal enterprise. Luciano, who did not participate in the daily workings of any prostitution house, was convicted because detectives unearthed evidence of his operation of the business and used the theory of conspiracy to prove his guilt.

It should be noted that prostitutes are frequently excellent informants and are very cooperative in dealing with the police. Since they work on the street, they witness many things and encounter many men over the course of their employment. It is also a bit surprising to find how many men will tell these women secrets they have never told anybody in their life. These prostitutes, like bartenders, are willing to listen and they keep an ear out for anything that may be able to help them should they be arrested by the police.

In the movies and television some prostitutes are portrayed as warm, loving individuals who can be saved by the right man. This is totally fictional. Our experiences have found that most prostitutes have, by the age of eighteen, lived more in their lives than most women forty to fifty years of age. They are hardnosed businesswomen, know the streets, and know how to survive. Prostitutes are not easily swayed by emotion and sentiment. The longer a prostitute works the streets, the more she realizes that is all she will ever be.

Whether in brothels or in the streets, under bridges or in automobiles, prostitution remains at the bottom of the social scale. It is the most convenient sexual outlet for le-

gions of strangers, perverts and physically repulsive people in our midst. It performs a role that no other institution performs. In view of the conditions and the continued historical presence of prostitution, it is highly unlikely that it will ever be eliminated as a vice in society.

There are several organizations actively engaged in efforts to protect prostitutes: COYOTE in San Francisco, which stands for Calling Off Your Old Tired Ethics; PONY, which stands for the Prostitutes of New York; PUMA, which stands for the Prostitutes Union of Massachusetts; and ASP, the Association of Seattle Prostitutes. Prostitution appears to be developing a higher profile.

Armed robbery occurs when a person commits a theft with the following elements: The offender uses force, causes injury to the victim, or puts the victim in fear of bodily injury by threats.