Phoenix police issue PSA to would-be johns The Republic |June 8, 2015
The latest of Amanda's many callers seemed anxious.
He spoke quickly and deemed few topics off-limits, unloading unsolicited details on work, family and sexual insecurities onto the woman he'd never met.
He had never done this before, he promised to the woman he believed to be the pert, nearly nude brunette on the other end of his computer screen.
Amanda, soothing and understanding, lent a patient ear for the man. And the dynamics changed about halfway into the 16-minute conversation, when "Amanda" revealed she was not a prostitute, but a Phoenix police detective.
The ruse, on its face, has become old hat for vice squads: Set up a dummy online profile, lure unsuspecting child predators or would-be johns, and snap the mug shots.
But in a recent Phoenix police sting operation, not one of the 229 calls to the five female detectives resulted in an arrest. The "Jamming Johns" operation was about targeted outreach.
Instead of establishing a meeting place, the woman on the other end of the line cheerfully launched into her cautionary speech with the enthusiasm of an infomercial spokesman, as heard on one of the audio recordings.
"The Phoenix Police Department actually has a new policy," the Phoenix vice-squad detective told one of her callers. "Instead of just issuing tickets to people who are arrested for soliciting prostitution, we now have to book people into jail."
The detectives then warned the men of the embarrassment of getting arrested for prostitution and the harm of sex trafficking, then directed them to azbuyerbeware.com for more information.
Officers hoped the method would have a "Scared Straight" effect — a term coined by a 1978 documentary that filmed terrified juvenile delinquents visiting actual convicts. The aim of Jamming Johns, similarly, was to prevent a crime from occurring, rather than to arrest after the fact.
The operation was part of a broader effort to stem the demand side of prostitution — buyers who are considered the lifeblood of sex trafficking.
Phoenix police and other groups often have come to see prostitution and sex trafficking as synonymous. One is considered "trafficked" if she is forced or coerced into the lifestyle — even by circumstances such as poverty or drugs — or is underage.
In the past year and a half, Phoenix's vice unit has begun fixing its attention on the johns in the equation. It's an initiative meant to complement the force's efforts to treat those exploited by sex trafficking as victims, said Phoenix police Sgt. Clay Sutherlin.
"If you're attacking this, you have to go after the demand element," he said. "We know that through the years, the customer has gotten off easy — the perception was that the girl is the problem (and) 'let's get the prostitute off the street corner.' "
Sutherlin said the previous status quo would name the customer as a witness to the crime of prostitution, with the prostitute named as the criminal.
"We don't do that anymore, because we realize his role is bigger," he said.
Phoenix, as part of a coalition called the CEASE (Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation) Network, is one of 11 cities across the country tasked with cutting demand by 20 percent in the next two years.
The network, footed by the anti-sex-trade organization Demand Abolition, also includes Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Oakland, Portland, San Diego and Seattle. Each city is asked to find its own, innovative solutions to the issue.
Angelyn Bayless, Phoenix's CEASE coordinator, said there are three hubs for buying sex in Phoenix: on the streets (primarily along 27th Avenue), in massage parlors and online at backpage.com.
Bayless said the group wanted to see what effect an inexpensive boiler-room approach, as opposed to a full-blown sting, would have on demand. The callers may also provide key insight for future tactics, she said.
"We thought it would be interesting to get a pulse of the buyers … find out what they think about prostitution and the mandatory-booking policy," she said.
The responses spanned from expletive-laced rants to excuses — "I don't understand; I'm an international student" — to, surprisingly, several notes of gratitude.
"I appreciate what you're doing," one said. "I have daughters as well. They're younger ones, but they'll grow up one day; scary thought! Once again, thank you."
Other key findings:
— Only six of the callers hung up when the detectives disclosed their true identities, leaving 229 who listened to the whole intervention.
— Twenty-five percent of the callers visited the website.
— Several called from their office lines at 30 Arizona businesses, including those in the entertainment, pharmaceutical, technology, manufacturing and transportation fields.
— Eighty percent of the callers responded to only one ad, indicating that most are casual shoppers rather than "hobbyists."
— Sixty-eight of the calls received a positive response after the detective announced who she was. Responses included "Thank you," "Understood, lesson learned" and "Thank you for the warning; I will not be doing this anymore."
Bayless said she views the operation as a success. The number of buyers contacting the decoy ads declined throughout the four-day operation, she said. And, importantly, many of the men seemed like casual buyers — receptive to the warnings and less likely to again try to purchase sex.
Police believe these casual shoppers are their best hope to achieve the 20 percent demand cut by 2017.
"We're just touching the surface on arresting the customers out there," Sutherlin said. "You just can't arrest your way out of the demand issue."