TEXT FROM urbanmilwaukee.com
The City of Milwaukee is developing new tools to fight prostitution: publicly shaming those caught attempting to hire a prostitute and raising the fine by 500 percent.
“We’re making some progress, but not enough to make a difference,” said Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II of the city’s efforts so far. “I want them out of my district and I want this to stop,” he said of men that come into his north side district to solicit sex.
An ordinance introduced by Stamper would raise the minimum fine for those caught soliciting a prostitute from $500 to $2,500. The maximum, regulated by state statute, would stay at $5,000. “These guys need to be caught, prosecuted and fined to the hilt,” said Stamper.
The name of the fine has also been changed, a move designed to put more shame on those arrested. It used to simply be a “loitering-soliciting” charge, now it includes the word “prostitute.”
The second phase will be getting the word out about those caught and convicted.
