Prostitute Solicitors to Go on Detroit TV

Prostitute Solicitors to Go on Detroit TV

source: Associated Press Strange News

By BREE FOWLER, Associated Press Writer

DETROIT – Police and prosecutors are working together to make sure that those who solicit prostitutes here don’t just end up fined or in jail — they end up on TV.

The Wayne County prosecutor’s office and Detroit officials have created a local version of Denver’s “Johns TV” — a program that shows on public access television the faces and names of people convicted of soliciting prostitutes.

The first episode was to air Monday night in Detroit. It also will be shown in several suburban communities at various dates and times.

According to Denver officials, the TV program and the posting of convicted solicitors — known as “johns” — on that city’s Web site have helped cut prostitution solicitation by about 40 percent.

The program, first used in Denver, is an attempt to curtail Detroit’s prostitution problem and the crime and quality of life problems that go along with it, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Monday.

“We’re serving notice on all of our johns that not only will we tow your car and charge you $900 to get it back, we’ll arrest you and fingerprint you and put your face on TV,” he said. “We’re coming after you, and don’t let me catch you on Johns TV.”

The program will air once a week in Detroit with new episodes each month.

Of the 15,000 vehicles seized since 2001 for prostitution, more than half came from the city’s suburbs. The suburb with the largest amount of seizures was Dearborn with 615.

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