craigslist helping cops bust escorts?

[d]

scary shit man........

A "sex worker" for 14 years, Jennifer (not her real name) says she has "loved every minute of it."

The 30-something blonde, articulate and well-spoken, won't say whether she still makes forays into the industry. But alluding to previous experiences, Jennifer says she exercised standards when soliciting clientele.

One guideline was to avoid Craigslist.

"There are a lot of things going on now with Craigslist," she said, referencing recent raids by law enforcement resulting from prostitution listings on the popular Web site. "Chicago has been having problems, as have Los Angeles, New York and the Bay Area."

Indeed, Craigslist -- used by millions nationwide to buy and sell everything from home appliances to automobiles -- is also a high- tech marketplace for those looking to buy and sell sex.

"There is a perceived hierarchy in the industry," Jennifer said. "Topless dancers think they're better than nude dancers. Nude dancers think they're better than the prostitutes. The people on Craigslist tend to be women on the lower-end of the spectrum."

Jennifer said many of the women posting on Craigslist are "being promoted by pimps -- or an agent." And because it has become so easy to advertise such services, more women are getting into the business.
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A recent online sex-for-sale posting by a Martinez woman led to her arrest after she reportedly offered to prostitute her 4-year- old daughter for $500 during an online conversation.

The 22-year-old was taken into custody earlier this monthafter the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children alerted the Martinez Police Department.

Investigators have said it might not be the first time the woman - - who is also the mother of a 3-week-old baby -- has offered to sell her daughter for sex.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office refused to file charges, however, citing insufficient evidence. The case was returned to the Martinez Police Department, which is hoping to refile the case.

While such an example is extreme, it has focused more attention on the issue of online prostitution.

A new dimension

From escort-review sites to bulletin boards where prostitutes can advertise their services, the Internet has added a new dimension to the world's oldest profession and has made it more accessible than ever.

A casual glance at Craigslist reveals numerous carnal services for sale.

From women looking for men, men looking for women, and gays and lesbian ads, some online postings leave little to the imagination. And for those who think customers have to venture into San Francisco or Oakland to buy sex, think again.

Vice-crime investigators say the Internet has allowed prostitutes to reach out to a larger prospective client base. Jennifer said it has also allowed law enforcement to zero in on practitioners of the trade.

"It's been a double-edged sword for the industry," she said.

Pleasanton police Sgt. Donald Sauls-

bury said his department started monitoring Craigslist a year ago.

"When it first came to our attention, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of listings in the Pleasanton area," he said. "Over the past year, however, we've seen those numbers go up."

On the day before Thanksgiving, a quick search on Craigslist revealed 50 listings for the Pleasanton-Dublin-Livermore area.

"Our experiences have been the ladies who advertise in this area tend to be in their mid-20s to early 30s," Saulsbury said. "Such listings potentially make it easier for us, in that a lot of these girls will do outcall appointments, meaning they come to you. We don't have to walk the streets like we did in the old days."

Saulsbury said prostitution is not a widely reported crime in Pleasanton.

"You have crimes associated with prostitution, such as theft from the customers," Saulsbury said. "We haven't seen those kinds of reports, but that's not to say it's not a problem."

Without going into specifics, Sauls-bury said the department will soon be launching a sting operation against women advertising erotic services online.

"We'll be accessing Craigslist and other sites for women offering outcall appointments," he said. "We'll also be doing some investigations -- but I can't say anymore than that."

A good thing

Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, said recent publicity generated by prostitution listings on his site actually is a good thing.

"It helps remind people in our (online) community that we need to deal with bad stuff of any sort," Newmark said. "Our community is overwhelmingly trustworthy, but we do get bad guys -- and we do need help from people to flag them down."

Newmark, 52, of San Francisco, said he started Craigslist a decade ago. The site's popularity still surprises Newmark, who estimates about 10 million people visit Craigslist monthly.

"Between ads and forum postings, 7.5 million people are posting on the site each month," he said. "It's not possible to police all of them."

Newmark said he relies on his site's users to notify him when illegal postings make their way online.

"Our policy is that the site is run by the people who use it, and these people are happy to help us out," he said. "People do tend to prioritize. Users are more concerned with scams -- but if they see something wrong, they will flag it."

Craigslist prides itself on working with law enforcement when approached to assist with investigations, Newmark said.

"Things do come up that demand our attention," he said. "The police will contact us, and we respond much faster than other Web sites -- the cops tell us that. We've also heard it from district attorneys across the country."

In some areas of the nation, where police aren't familiar with Internet law, Craigslist will help investigators better their understanding, Newmark said.

"We work with them to get them the evidence they need so the case they're working on won't get thrown out of court," he said. "It's better for the bad stuff to be on our site, and for us to respond to it, than for it to be on another site that might not act as quickly."

Local activity

San Ramon police Chief Scott Holder said his department checks Craigslist -- and other sites -- on a weekly basis. In three months, the department has conducted three sting operations as a result of online postings.

"(Prostitution) is a problem anywhere," Holder said, "but it's not a major problem in our city."

Holder was vague on specifics when asked how the department orchestrates its stings.

"We want to run them out of town, not teach them our tricks," he said.

The chief, however, did say the majority of females arrested work without a pimp.

"Most of them operate out of hotels," he said.

In Danville, prostitution is less of a problem. Police Chief Chris Wenzel said his department will occasionally check out Craigslist "if we hear certain things."

"(Other towns) have certain buildings -- hotels and apartment complexes -- that make prostitution easy," Wenzel said. "We don't really have that much of a problem with it, though it is always a concern."

Generally, word of women selling sexual favors reaches the department through the grapevine, Wenzel said, noting police raided a Danville establishment engaging in risky business six months ago.

Livermore police Chief Steve Krull refrained from details when discussing his department's approach to online prostitution.

"We monitor Craigslist and other potential sources, but we don't do it daily," Krull said. "In terms of whether prostitution is a problem in Livermore, we receive very few complaints. From that, I'd conclude it's not much of an issue."

That said, Krull acknowledged there were "several still-active investigations" into illegal sex activity in Livermore. Whether the operations are the result of information derived from Craigslist or other Web sites, Krull would not say.

In the meantime, Craigslist's Newmark said he will continue to assist law enforcement when called upon but will not eliminate the "erotic services" section of the Web site.

"The primary purpose of that category is so that these kind of postings can go there as opposed to being listed in the mainstream sections," he said. "We have discussed getting rid of the category, but we concluded that would make the problem worse."

Striking a sympathetic tone, Newmark said that although he sometimes sees postings that make him "wince," he believes people need to "practice compassion for those who author these ads."

"Everybody has an opinion, and everybody has a chance to express it," he said. "Free speech and compassion trump my personal reactions. Give someone a break -- that's an important message."

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[PumpDaddy]

Why don't they just move their operations to Ebay?

[slinky]

Vice has always used "publicy available, free" media for their targets. It always used to be the Village Voice, now it's CL.

One reason is that there is some complaining going on about minors finding thei way into the "Erotic Services" section of CL while they are meandering in thw "civilian" sections (just like anyone can pull a copy of the VV out of one of those free mailboxes").

[Shining Star]

When the Village Voice first began running "escort/massage" adverts, Al Goldstein, publisher of Screw Magazine launched a media blitz to keep the VV out of Starbucks and other places in NYC where it was being given out for free. His rationale was that the adverts were kind of racy (they were) and that it was easy for minors to obtain the paper since it was free.

Starbucks did for awhile stop giving out free issues of the VV as did some other places. Al Goldstein's blitz also prompted some NYC district attorneys to take a look at VV's adverts. VV was duly put on notice and that is when the adverts began to get cleaned up abit. Not as much nudity (or near as one could get in a non porno mag), and IIRC the trannies were moved to their own section and or began to be clearly labeled as such.

Sadly all this came too little and late for Mr. Goldstein, who saw his ad money from the working girls dry up, and Screw folded. IIRC he works in a bagel store these days after being homeless, and IIRC again in jail. How the mighty have fallen.

Girls posting on Craigslist are just asking for trouble IMHO. It is too easy for too many people to stumble across an advert (co workers, neighbors, etc) and put two and two together and make trouble. About a year ago some upstate NY police were on the news about adverts from girls on Craigslist and how they were making serious busts. Craigslist of course denied knowing the adverts were there and that they did not condone illegal activity........

[slinky]

Someone said Craig Newmark was a big NAMBLA contributor.

[deebo]

Someone said Craig Newmark was a big NAMBLA contributor.

oh really ?

i never used craiglist anyways

[Kramer]

Wow deebo nice avatar! Where'd ya get it? Who is the girl?