What is happening on Aurora Avenue? (Seattle: motels, contractors, law)

[pete98146]

Originally Posted by zerp

Not really sad. The people get what they voted for. It’s really quite amazing. 3 former crown jewel cities of the west coast have gone to absolute shyte in just 4-7 years. San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. In 4-7 years, each of these cities have accomplished what it took Detroit decades to accomplish.

Going from attractive cities with vibrant downtown scenes to utter trash and filth.

One of my clients recently quit the Seattle Police Department out of pure frustration. He basically said it's "we police are the ones in handcuffs, not the criminals." So yes, "you reap what you sew" is rearing it's ugly head in Seattle.


Unless you discipline your puppy the first time he poops on your carpet, he'll continue doing it. Simple as that...

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by zerp

Huh? Seattle is run by far left Democrats. Far left Democrats are the party of human trafficking (see southern US border).

You don't seem to understand the border issues at all. And don't forget, it was Reagan who encouraged illegal entry, by declaring the first "amnesty" to those already in the US. The Repubs are the Party of Business, and cheap labor is advantageous to businesses.

[Sockeye66]

I was up that way last month doing an early Saturday visit to a car dealer and saw a young woman that looked to be a prostitute. This was before 10:00 AM.
I was surprised, I rarely venture Aurora that far north but haven't spotted a "street walker" in 20 + years.

I recall a small Seattle PI story I read years ago, a father got busted on Aurora by an undercover officer attempting to arrange a happy 13th birthday for his son. Love/hate to hear what mom had to say about it.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

I’ve been noticing a LOT more sex workers between 95th and 135th. Like, a substantially larger amount in the past year. Some of them don’t even look like they are over 18.

Why isn’t the city doing something about this? This is a potential human trafficking issue.

LE doesn't care about human trafficking. I tried to report obvious human trafficking at a massage business (not in Seattle, but there are probably businesses like it there) to the county sheriff. He refused to connect the dots on all the tell-tale signs I listed, and knocked each point down one by one, as if they each were isolated instances. But the overall verdict was--and this is very relevant to Seattle--that the county was a "sanctuary county", so "we don't burst in on people and demand to see their documentation". He didn't outright state the "sanctuary" part of it, but it was clear from his reaction, that his attitude was, "not my problem". And I looked up the towns and county to see if they were "sanctuary" jurisdictions, and they are.

Total shock. He said, in his view, no crime had been committed. It's not a crime to not be able to speak English. Not a crime to give bad massages (IOW: no massage training). Not a crime to have no receptionist staff and no logbook of clients, no schedule book, no client names listed, no receipt book for payment, no evidence of business transactions whatsoever. I pointed out, there were no licenses on the wall for the therapists, nor any liability insurance posted, as is normally required. He referred me to the local licensing authority. He told me to get back to him when I had an actual crime to report. I said something about tax evasion, if there's no evidence of payment for services. Not his problem, no proof.


So there you go, folks. OTOH, if the women/girls plying their trade are US citizens, the sanctuary issue is irrelevant. So y'all may have better luck reporting than I did. You can write a letter to the editoro of the newspaper about it, to start making noise publicly. It's a start.

[jabogitlu]

Visible sex workers 1) should not be a crime, and 2) is realistically a part of any city of significant size. Seattle 2021 is not the same as Seattle 1980. No amount of hand-wringing will change that fact.

Human trafficking is distinct from sex work, although the two are often interrelated due to terrible US policy on sex work. Like Ruth said, SPD is likely not much bothered by human trafficking no matter how many beat police they have. Investigative work on human trafficking is typically done by special ops.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

You don't seem to understand the border issues at all. And don't forget, it was Reagan who encouraged illegal entry, by declaring the first "amnesty" to those already in the US. The Repubs are the Party of Business, and cheap labor is advantageous to businesses.

Over the past 8 years the Republican constituency has moved to the lunatic fringe. Honestly, I think we are seeing a major shift (in national politics) where neoliberal Democrats (the moderate wing) are becoming the most business-friendly political cohort, due to stability of policy if nothing else.

This change has not occurred across the board especially in state or local politics (see: Texas), yet.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Over the past 8 years the Republican constituency has moved to the lunatic fringe. Honestly, I think we are seeing a major shift (in national politics) where neoliberal Democrats (the moderate wing) are becoming the most business-friendly political cohort, due to stability of policy if nothing else.

This change has not occurred across the board especially in state or local politics (see: Texas), yet.

Interesting. We'll see how things evolve.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

I’ve been noticing a LOT more sex workers between 95th and 135th...
Why isn’t the city doing something about this?

Do something about what? How's consensual sex any of the government's business? Just because money is exchanged between parties, and it's a contract for services? Why does that make it somehow different?

I guess people want this to be North Korea or something? Here I thought this was supposed to be the country of individual freedom. Or that's what it should be.

Ironically, it's this 'war on everything' puritanical moral-nanny state outlook that keeps these industries dangerous. Anything involving adults should be legal and regulated so as to be safe and clean as possible.

[mayfair]

I think the OP is concerned about the trafficking aspect. That's not individual freedom.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Do something about what? How's consensual sex any of the government's business? Just because money is exchanged between parties, and it's a contract for services? Why does that make it somehow different?

I guess people want this to be North Korea or something? Here I thought this was supposed to be the country of individual freedom. Or that's what it should be.

Ironically, it's this 'war on everything' puritanical moral-nanny state outlook that keeps these industries dangerous. Anything involving adults should be legal and regulated so as to be safe and clean as possible.

I don’t have a problem with it in theory but there should be regulation. Obviously that isn’t the reality here, and while I don’t think that the police should be harassing these workers if they’re willingly doing it and not necessarily harming anyone, I think they should at least send a social worker in or perhaps one of those “community officers” just to make sure some of these workers aren’t minors or are otherwise in a situation where they are being coerced or otherwise victimized themselves. That sort of thing does happen and not infrequently.