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Police battle prostitution with undercover officers

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BY DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Jan 27, 2008 - 12:29:02 am CST

By spring 2005, people in the Everett Neighborhood were so tired of hookers they took their complaints to police during a meeting at the F Street Recreation Center.

Police Chief Tom Casady left the meeting around noon, and as he drove away, one of the most notorious prostitutes called out a greeting from the street.

Later, he realized who she was and what she was doing — likely striking up the kind of chit-chat that led to her prostitution arrest by a police captain a few weeks earlier.

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A view of 'The Core' area from the observation deck of the Capitol. (Jill Peitzmeier)

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Special report: The Core

“I wasn’t quite quick enough to pick up on the invitation,” Casady said.

Sgt. Mike Bassett, a 27-year police veteran, was also at the meeting and organized his first undercover prostitution detail that night.

“It was thrown together in a couple hours,” he said.

Officer Megan Schreiner was tasked with walking the street. She didn’t dress up; she dressed down.

Within five minutes, a man invited her to smoke crack. She said she didn’t have any money. He said he’d help her make some, and left to find a customer for her.

When he returned, he said he would stay with her for the rest of the night, as though she were his property.

“I watched her get bought and sold within minutes,” Bassett says.

Since then, Schreiner has put in more than 200 hours working prostitution details. In one photo, her normally curled blond hair is tousled and she’s wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts and no makeup.

No fishnet, leather or Spandex; she looks more like a woman who just got out of bed.

When she left social work to become a police officer, the 31-year-old Central City native had no idea she’d find herself being propositioned on the streets three years later.

Rather than writing traffic tickets, she gets asked to show johns her “ass and tits” or lower her price to $10.

At the peak of the prostitution problem, in 2005-06, people could scarcely walk through the area without being flagged down by a hooker.

Men from all over cruised the neighborhood, finding hookers and taking them into alleys.

Most of the women were hooking to buy drugs. Bassett said he has not met a Lincoln prostitute who isn’t a drug addict.

With the prostitution and drugs came robberies and assaults.

Bassett would go out in plain clothes to look for thieves and be unable to complete his work because he was continually flagged down by hookers and pimps.

“We were making prostitution arrests at 6 in the morning,” he said.

Bassett believes the situation has improved since early 2006, when prostitutes would cycle in and out of an apartment building near 13th and E streets, giving oral sex to get enough money for crack.

Crime statistics in the Everett and Near South neighborhoods do show a peak in 2005 and decline the following two years.

The neighborhood was “held hostage,” Bassett says.

“We had to do something before the neighborhood went to hell. We feel like we brought it back from a tipping point.”

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.


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Scott wrote on January 27, 2008 11:11 am:
" Strange--I lived in this neighborhood in college and went to lots of parties over there. Never once did I get approached by a prostitute. I wonder what that says about my character. "

 treatment, not punishment wrote on January 27, 2008 11:39 am:
" Treating people for addiction is more effective at reducing prostitution than is punishing people. Countries and states which made the mosst difference, faced their issues as both social and medical. While it's common, and very easy, for moral questions to get tossed into this process, progress is set back because some don't want to "give" something to the "sinful". Instead of dishing out judgment and punishment, we ought to offer sensible support--overall, medical and social support is cheaper, more effective, and addresses several social issues at once. "

 I got an idea wrote on January 27, 2008 12:01 pm:
" How about you work harder on getting rid of the drugs and the other trash will follow "

 J. Lemon wrote on January 27, 2008 12:05 pm:
" Your tax dollars at work, thi is a victimless crime, and the police should find better use of time. If a man and a woman choose to excahnge money for sex, it is between the two of them. "

 arlo wrote on January 27, 2008 1:25 pm:
" Hats off to the officers who are putting the effort, risk, and time into cleaning this situation up.

Lincoln Police officers do a heck of a job. "

 russell wrote on January 27, 2008 2:56 pm:
" This and the following articles clearly indicates that Lincoln has a problem that MUST be eradicated before it spreads to your/our neighborhood. We must insist upon the same crime rate in our neighborhood as in the Everett neighborhood. That will mean that our property taxes will increase to pay for the police and jails but I would rather pay higher taxes on a house that I can enjoy as opposed to low taxes on something that I am afraid to use. "

 WWTOD wrote on January 27, 2008 4:47 pm:
" Is it really a good idea to provide the undercover officer's name, age, former occupation, what she looks like, and her family's hometown?

If any one of these criminals with half a brain decides to seek revenge, it's not going to be hard to do. "

 Soul-jah wrote on January 27, 2008 9:17 pm:
" It so sad to see this type of crime go on in our community. What's really sad, is this is a neighborhood with a lot of children. I'm grateful to the officers and their work to crack down on the problem. We can holler treatment and a host of other things, but we must start somewhere, Thank you to those who put it all on the line. "

 enlightened wrote on January 27, 2008 10:21 pm:
" I am continually amazed at the hypocrisy of our society. I will start off by saying that I am a successful financially, 38 years old and an outstanding father, PTA, Football, Soccer - You name it. I AM an upstanding citizen-I break no laws...and would never. BUT with that said, in our society we are hypocrits in every sense of the word. Tell me that none of the judges or county attorneys or state attorneys has never smoked pot. Tell me that they haven't looked at pornography.

Crack and Meth are BAD drugs...they demoralize our society. There is unlimited amounts of supporting evidence to back this up, but for us to put prostitution in this same catagory and lump marijuanna in also is simply wrong. Please look at Amsterdam (where prostitution and pot is legal) and compare...Our countries AIDS rate is exponentially higher than theirs is...Our countries problem with Meth And Crack is MUCH worse than theirs is...they have an open culture that is not hypocritical like ours...we as a society say one thing and do another...and PREACH another to our children. Until we mature enough to admit our falscomings to our children and to society we will encourage this detrimental behavior.
"

 Nebraskan wrote on January 28, 2008 1:12 am:
" I lived in this neighborhood as a college student in the 70's; my roommate & I would even ride our bicycles around the streets late at night in the summer, just for fun; it was perfectly safe at that time. My kids lived in the neighborhood as college students in the 90's. They had cars instead of bikes, and the area had become trashier in appearance. It is very sad to hear, though, what it has now become. That used to be such a pretty, pleasant area of the city. "

 Tired of Whining wrote on January 28, 2008 7:06 am:
" In reference to both this article and the previous article there is alot of posts with wonderful encouragement to the police officers, and I agree with that setiment regardless of my views of the department and the bureaucracy of the governing of the public services. I just only hope that the majority of people that think this is a wonderful thing that the police are doing remember their work and the larger problem when the city tries to cut more spending for the number of officers that are hired and replaced. Treatment programs are needed for the drug problem in those areas along with more officers needed to help keep these "infestations" from moving and/or growing. However, the biggest problem is that the majority of people will never agree to pay more in taxes to be able to afford those programs. Unfortunately without people of Lincoln deciding to actually acknowlage the problems that may not yet be in their neighborhoods that funding will never happen. It truly is sad that this community and our leaders find more need in new roads to lead the way to more unneeded strip malls that continue to suck down our local economy with nothing but low paying jobs than to actually fund one of the departments that continue the saftey and security of existing neighborhoods. Remember these articles the next time the police asks for more money for more officers and the majority just screams and whines that they don't do anything and just need to have their existing officers work harder. "

 Victimless? wrote on January 28, 2008 9:05 am:
" People who think that prostitution doesn't affect others outside of the transaction haven't lived in this neighborhood. Haven't experienced how "fun" it was to get out of your car and see one of these women screaming her head off, stomping towards you, itching for crack, and DEMANDING you give her money for sex. That's how bad it was. This isn't Amsterdam with a highly controlled sex trade, and this isn't "benign" marijuana they're trading sex for. Crack and prostitution and violent crime are interconnected and can not be separated. Live here and you'd see that.

All that being said, I love living in the Near South, and I wouldn't trade its history and diversity for the boring, cookie-cutter beige homes multiplying on the outskirts of town. Have fun living in Vanilla-ville, I'm going to stay here and try to help revive this incredible area. "

 christina wrote on January 28, 2008 9:30 am:
" Are we forgetting something. In order for prostitutes to make money there has to be customers. You say they are all addicts.Are their customers addicted as well. Please do not say "boys will be boys"" These men could be your neighbor.. I hope the powers that be does not forget it takes 2.. "

 Don't like it, move to Amsterdam wrote on January 28, 2008 10:10 am:
" Here's the deal people. There ARE treatment facilities and their are ways for people to get help if they really want it. That's the issue, do they want help? Anyone that thinks it's a victimless crime and is only between the man and woman...., what? Do you read or listen to the news? And how great a Dad can anyone be if they think pot and prostitution should be legal. Great, smoke a joint and take your kid to the red light district. That's quality parenting. See, the thing is, drugs and prostitution are ILLEGAL in this country. And that's what police officers do, they arrest people for breaking the law. Wow, what hypocrits for doing their job. "

 Funny wrote on January 28, 2008 10:11 am:
" it IS in nicer neighborhoods. Selling sex is not the same as selling plain label beer, appealing only to low income people.

Example: stayed at the Hyatt in Chicago ($300/room), saw 2 transactions within 20 minutes in front of where I drank a $20 margarita.

Being niave does not mean it isn't happening in south lincoln or or any place else. Just easier with rental units hiding the traffic. "

 Matt wrote on January 28, 2008 10:23 am:
" I agree that this needs to be stopped, but the police should focus their attention on getting the crack off the street. All this is doing is moving the prostitutes from one neighborhood to the next. Until you stop the mechanism that creates prostitution you've merely put a bandaid over a gunshot wound. And to "enlightened"...how is this hypocrisy?? Looking at pornography is fundamentally different than picking up a prostitute. Good grief! "

 To wrote on January 28, 2008 12:17 pm:
" You're right, I WON'T support higher taxes for more police officers. We are already severely overtaxed, or haven't you noticed. I just did my taxes, so yes, I noticed. Is what I will support is shifting the taxes already collected around: cut the black-hole that is LPS' tax share in half, and some from the County, and use that money for drug programs, more officers, and core revitalization. I'm tired of liberals looking for more taxes, more taxes, more money "

 mike wrote on January 28, 2008 12:24 pm:
" Somtimes getting arrested is the first step towards getting treatment. Lincoln's drug court system focuses on helping rather than punishing. So props to the cops. It may seem like punishment now but it could be the first step toward getting these people into rehab. "

 Legalize wrote on January 28, 2008 1:24 pm:
" If prostitution were legal, then the state could require it occur only in certain areas and at certain times (kind of selling alcohol is regulated now that the USA's ridiculous prohibition experiment is over). It seems to work just fine in Nevada. "

 Average Joe wrote on January 28, 2008 1:43 pm:
" If one of the suspects arrested was a UNL athelte would he be prosecuted or let go? "

 GMP wrote on January 28, 2008 1:44 pm:
" Lets see -- victimless crime. Money paid for sex. A crime. Sex given for money. A crime. Drugs bought with the money. A crime. Doing the drugs. A crime. People who have to walk down the street and are harrassed. Victim. Children witnessing propostions, having the drug dealers in their neighborhoods, having parents involved in drugs and prostitution because they are addicted to drugs because the drug dealers are being paid by money from sex, then learning these ways and going on to perpetuate the circle -- VICTIMS. We are all victims as the circle goes on and on. "

 Get the facts wrote on January 28, 2008 1:47 pm:
" First of all, marijuana isn't lumped into the same category. Get caught with less than an ounce of marijuana and you get an infraction and a $100 fine. Get caught with meth or crack, you're facing a felony. Second, Lincoln cops bust high-end prostitutes as well. Remember Dawn Beckett of Omaha from a few months ago? Her rate was $300/night. You just had to make the appointment in advance instead of go looking for her on the streets. "

 Lincoln Citizen wrote on January 28, 2008 1:54 pm:
" There is hope for those who are addicted, however they'll likely need to keep hooking in order to foot the bill for treatment of their addictions. The cost of an impatient treatment program runs in the 10's of thousands of dollars. Treatment for substance abuse is out of reach for most. Maybe some tax money could be funneled into education, prevention and treatment, as opposed to hiring more cops and buildiing bigger prisons. Just a thought, for what it's worth. "

 Nina wrote on January 28, 2008 2:20 pm:
" Next time they're looking for someone to feature on that TV show that features America's Dirtiest Jobs, this woman cop should apply. What a yukky assignment. "

 I can name a victim wrote on January 28, 2008 3:19 pm:
" As the foster mother of a child who's parents are meth addicts, I can name a victim.
Anyone who's ignorant enough to believe that this is about prostitution is wrong. The children are paying now and society pays now and later. Now with the messed up parents and in a few years with kids who are very confused.
As far as treatment, not punishment is concerned do you honestly know how many resources the State flushes away trying to treat people? I'm not suggesting that treatment shouldn't be tried but unless we can lock them up AND treat them long term, forget it.
Next time one of you wants to get high and mighty about no victim, blah, blah, blah, look at these kids and then tell them they aren't victims.
http://www.nebraskaheartgallery.org/heartgallery.htm
"

 wives, girlfriends-- wakeup wrote on January 28, 2008 5:51 pm:
" You know, don't you, that he didn't get that from a toilet seat. If you've come down with a nasty and potentially death dealing disease, it may well have been from downtown Lincoln.
If you're being treated for something that came from a prostitute, you too are a victim of rampant drug addiction, which is sponsored by a man you love. They are from every race and every social level. No only must you pay for your own disease, but also for his, and ultimately, for hers... "

 Come on wrote on January 28, 2008 6:03 pm:
" Look, if the worst thing Lincoln has going is paying $10 or $20 for oral sex, we've got it great. I wish the police would concentrate on "real" crimes. Stick with fighting drug crimes, but stop wasting time on "cheap" sex. That part of the crime isn't bothering anyone. "

 Lincolnite wrote on January 28, 2008 6:05 pm:
" Prostitution is only a symptom of diseased society. Fight the root of the problem (economic inequality) not the victims - the prostitutes. "

 From Stroop to "enkightened" wrote on January 28, 2008 10:07 pm:
" FYI Amsterdam just recently passed laws to restrict prostitution and drugs.Go figure....their 'experiment' in this so-called freedom showed how detrimental it was to the next generation that lived with it.It just takes the destruction of ONE generation to destroy a society.And FYI Amsterdam was and is one of the hubs of sex slavery especially from Eastern Europe-but I guess in your mind no harm done-after all they're just poor Russians. "

 nemo wrote on January 28, 2008 10:38 pm:
" Having spent time in Anchorage Alaska and Spokane Washington( 2 cities of similar size to Lincoln) I saw what happens when the police try to clean this kind of thing up. It's moderately successful, but most of the time the hookers and drug addicts just move to another part of the city, then the whole thing starts up again. In Anchorage the last time I was there, I didn't see the blatant prostitution the way they used to have, I hope it's cleaned up but I wouldn't bet on it. It probably just moved indoors. "

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