How law enforcement combats sex trafficking has changed dramatically. Street corners on blighted stretches have been replaced with websites and social media. But perhaps the bigger change is that police have started to treat prostitutes less like criminals and more like victims of cruel and demeaning captors. The New Orleans area has long been a nexus for human trafficking. It goes back to its defunct red-light district Storyville and its long history as an international port city.
Today, Hare and others in law enforcement say activity peaks around major events, such as Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl and major music festivals. Interstate 10 provides a convenient conduit for trafficking networks with outposts along the Gulf Coast and into Texas.
Sex trafficking investigations have become more complicated in recent years, police said. Websites such as Backpage. But Craigslist pulled its adult ads in , and authorities shut down Backpage last year. Police must now monitor multiple websites and social media to crack cases. But even in the new digital landscape, sex trafficking still relies on an analog mainstay: hotels, ones where rooms are cheap and employees are willing to look the other way. This is where Jefferson Parish has made major strides with its sex trafficking strategy.
Ten years ago, the Jefferson Parish Council set up new rules for hotels and required them to hold permits. Hare says most innkeepers now comply with the law and work with police to thwart sex trafficking on their properties. Others along the strip, once notorious for prostitution, have closed on their own. Federal authorities have also put a local hotel out of business. In , the Riviera Hotel on Chef Menteur Highway was found to be part of a sex trafficking ring involving pimps from Memphis, Tennessee.
Attorney Peter Strasser says in these complex cases, cooperation from victims is critical, but getting their assistance can be an uphill battle. And in times, even when they do cooperate, then sometimes they go back to their trafficker again. They point to a long history of prostitutes being treated as criminals instead of victims. Statistics bear this out, with far more arrests for prostitution when compared with trafficking-related charges. For example, the New Orleans Police Department made arrests for prostitution from through Over that same period, there were 37 trafficking-related arrests.
