Seeing the same faces again and again on prostitution charges, the undercover vice detective began to collect them, reports the Denver Post. He placed arrest photo after photo of each woman in sequence, so someone could study the first picture, skim through the middle and be riveted on the last, which shows the ravages of living on the street, where eyes tell tales of pain and despair, anger and desperation. “It’s so drastic, and it can be so fast,” the officer said of the downward spirals he’s seen in six years, “and it’s all because they don’t care. He placed the photos in a black binder. On the first page it says, “Look at this and ask yourself if prostitution is really a victimless crime.”
Now, a judge keeps a copy in his courtroom to show first offenders as he oversees a new jail-diversion program for prostitutes. A City Council member, sickened after viewing the pages, is renewing her efforts to fund a treatment program for prostitutes. Last month, Denver County Judge John Marcucci began overseeing Project Chrysalis, a new drug court program funded by the Department of Justice designed as a jail diversion program for prostitutes with multiple arrests. Sentences for prostitutes vary according to the defendant’s criminal history and whether they want to participate in any drug rehabilitation programs.
Link: http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2785774,00.html