Since prostitution was reduced in the Logan Circle area, it has begun to disturb residents and businesses along the Rhode Island Avenue and New York Avenue corridors in Ward 5, which is mainly a family-oriented area. Children are not heavily populated in the downtown area like they are in Ward 5, James said.

"Children don’t need to see that," James said. "Rhode Island Avenue is a gateway into the District and the pulse of a whole community of people."

Detective Mark Gilkey of the MPD in the Prostitution Enforcement Unit said the Rhode Island Avenue area has become a number one area for professional prostitution in the last six to eight months.

"This is definitely one of our priority enforcement areas right now," Gilkey said.

Sgt. Cliff Rise of the Metropolitan Police Department said the Prostitution Enforcement Unit was reorganized at the beginning of this year to create a citywide centralized unit that would take in information and figure out ways to attack the problem in the whole city. Previously, the prostitution unit only had officers working in Wards 1, 3 and 5.

"We are running operations several times a week, targeting johns and prostitutes," Rise said. "We try to mix it up so we aren’t doing the same things all the time."

James said the problem with the prostitution unit being centralized is that they have to serve all seven police districts. She said Police Chief Charles Ramsey made a commitment to cleaning up prostitution and it would serve the community more to give each district its own prostitution unit and "let them clean it up."

Rise said the officers are trying to get together with businesses in the area to come up with ways to "brighten it up." He said they are also trying to get hotels and other businesses that may cater to prostitutes to stop or not do so as readily.

Gilkey said he believes the prostitutes have moved to Rhode Island and New York avenues due to displacement from the Logan Circle area and other downtown areas being heavily patrolled. They have relocated to a place where they still have volume and traffic and can go undetected by much of the community, Gilkey said.

Rise said police are looking into the possibility of changing traffic patterns at night along the Rhode Island and New York avenue corridors in an attempt to give patrolling police cars more of an opportunity to stop potential johns if they aren’t following posted traffic signs.

Prostitution is a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise in the District, Rise said. He said there are a large number of willing customers in the District and some of the better prostitutes are making $1,500 a night.

"It’s a business with high profits and low overhead," Rise said.

Sister Leonissa O’Brien, secretary for St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church and school at Rhode Island Avenue and 20th Street NE, said the church was forced to install gates on its property to keep out prostitutes and their customers. She said this action was taken after observing the repeated use of the church’s property at night for sexual activities.

"Members of the church are upset. Teachers are opening up classrooms earlier so kids aren’t exposed to [prostitutes]," O’Brien said. "People in the neighborhood are getting fed up and calling the police.

"We have seen less of it on our own property," O’Brien said, "but it is still going on and happening in broad daylight too." She said police are patrolling the neighborhood but cannot make an arrest unless they see a transfer of money take place.

Gilkey said at least 25 percent of the time patrolling for prostitution is spent in the Rhode Island Avenue area, where the police are conducting intelligence surveillance, undercover operations and working with the community to call MPD and document times when they see prostitute activity.

Gilkey said some daytime prostitution involves girls who have drug problems, with some engaging in prostitution in residential areas and on side streets. But he said he is not aware of it affecting businesses.

Estella Wheeler, owner of Estella’s Hats on Rhode Island Avenue, said the prostitution has not affected her business seriously because she makes sure prostitutes are not on her corner.

"I’m sure if other people have seen them, they’ve been affected though," Wheeler said.

Wheeler said she used to see police patrolling the area but it has been several months since she has seen them on the streets "watching out for our backs."

James said Rhode Island Avenue "has become a big concern for me. I won’t be satisfied until [prostitution] is eradicated," she said.

Channing Phillips, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Roscoe Howard Jr., said the U.S. Attorney’s Office has been active in the prosecution of prostitution in the District. The office is working with the FBI and MPD on this issue, Phillips said, but citizens are still calling to complain.

Kelly Higashi, former chief of the misdemeanor section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the office has also put together a "john school," which is a type of diversion program to try to get at the root of the problem.

"It started as a way to address the problem of prostitution in D.C. by educating people instead of just locking them up," Higashi said.

"John school" is a one-day program that admits nonviolent offenders who have been arrested for soliciting prostitutes. Participants in the program, which costs $300, leave with a greater knowledge and sensitivity, Higashi said. She said the "tuition" money goes to rehabilitation programs for prostitutes

Rise said that it is important to understand that D.C. is on a circuit and as prostitutes are arrested, there are more girls coming in from other areas. He said that pimps will take their girls wherever they think they can make the most money.

"We try to liaison as much as possible with other jurisdictions and we try to do what we can to keep pimps off balance, but the more pressure you put on them, the quicker they’re going to leave," Rise said. "We are attempting to let it be known on the circuit that Washington, D.C., is not a prostitute or pimp friendly city."

Citizens can call the Metropolitan Police prostitution enforcement unit at (202) 698-7446.

Copyright 2003, The Common Denominator