According to a study by the Prince George New Hope Society, approximately one in four sex trade workers has been asked for sex by a member of the RCMP.

The report – released earlier this month – surveyed 106 sex trade workers, including 63 women and 43 girls.

Twenty-five of the participants said they have been asked for sex by an RCMP officer at least once.

“It was because I had a warrant and he said he would make it go away, just for the night,” one of the respondents said.

“A police officer hasn’t asked me for sex, but he asked me how I feel when all those filthy men have their hands all over me,” another said. “It really pissed me off when he said that.”

New Hope executive director Christal Capostinski said she hopes to create a police sensitivity training program, in coordination with the local detachment, to educate officers about the sex trade.

“I sit there at New Hope and I see these exchanges between the RCMP and the women and they’re just nasty – they’re not good,” Capostinski said. “[But] there are some really good officers out there. We have one RCMP officer, a female officer, she comes as often as she can to New Hope and talks to the women.”

Nineteen of the 43 girls who took part in the survey said they had been mistreated by the RCMP.

Three claimed they were physically abused and six said they were handled roughly. Others reported being laughed at, yelled at, talked down to, verbally abused or not helped.

Only 42 per cent said they felt protected by the RCMP all the time or often; 46 per cent feeling protected sometimes or rarely; and 12 per cent said they never felt protected by the RCMP.

Only 29 of the 106 sex workers reported bad dates to police sometimes, often or all the time.

“Cops don’t care,” one participant said.

“They just see me as a drug addict and a hooker,” another said.

“I did it for a while... until I realized they weren’t going to do anything about them,” a third said.

Prince George RCMP superintendent Dahl Chambers said he had not seen the study yet, but believes in his officers.

But any complaints of officer misconduct are and will be investigated fully, he added.

“You can say what you want in a blind survey,” Chambers said. “I’d love to see the complaints. If they make a complaint... if they have a bad date, we will investigate it. Lets get it out in the open.”

Chambers said he has his officers work in pairs whenever dealing with sex trade workers so they are not dealing with them alone.

Police are frequently put in a difficult situation when dealing with sex workers, he said.

“Whether we like it or not, they are involved in an illegal activity,” Chambers said. “[And] the victims can sometimes be severely impaired with alcohol or drugs – or can be combative.”

In bad date investigations, sex workers can be difficult witnesses, he said.

“They don’t always have a willingness to participate in the judicial system. If you accuse someone, you have to follow through.”

Police are also under pressure from communities like the Millar-Connaught neighbourhood to clean up prostitution in their areas.

“The police end up very much in the middle of things,” he said. “We’re looking for a quick fix to a complex problem. I think we’ve been fairly progressive.”

The RCMP have partnered with the John Howard Society to send first-time sex customers – often called Johns or tricks – to John School. Education is often a more effective deterrent than a fine, Chambers said.

“We try to run at least four or five undercover operations per year [targeting Johns,]” he said. “It does take a lot of resources.”

For the sex workers themselves, programs like New Hope may be the best hope.

“It’s giving alternatives to people. I think that’s very important,” he said. “That might be the best thing we can do.”

More resources are needed to help sex workers leave the street, he added.

A legislative tool that has been effective in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba allows officers to apprehend child prostitutes they encounter, place them in secure custody and refer them to agencies to help them get off the street, Chambers said.

“I would like to see that model brought here. We’ll try and apprehend them if we can and call the Ministry of Children and Family Development,” Chambers said. “That legislation was on the deck prior to the last election.”

Source: Prince George Free Press - BC, Canada