Portland neighbors say prostitution is moving north

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Neighbors Say Prostitution Moving North
North Portland Neighborhood Complains About Prostitution

http://www.kptv .com/news/17936303/detail.html#-

November 7, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. -- People living in North Portland said there's an increasing problem of prostitutes there and it may be because of a crackdown in a different neighborhood.

They said ever since police started doing undercover stings on 82nd Avenue, prostitutes have moved to North Interstate Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

People living in the area said North Portland was just starting to clean up, but now that officers are putting pressure on prostitutes on 82nd, the street walkers have moved their business, and it has many people concerned.

"I see them walking up and down the street all the time, all the time," Rodney Block said, referring to the prostitutes he sees on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

He said they've become so common that he talks to them often, asking them why they've resorted to selling themselves for money.

"Some of them say they do it because they have nowhere else to go. Others say they gotta do it or their so-called pimp will beat them," Block said.

Many have come to associate 82nd Avenue as the hotbed for prostitution.

In fact, that's where the Portland Police Bureau has done numerous sting operations, targeting the crime.

But while the crackdown has been effective, it has also put pressure on prostitutes to find a new place to do business, and neighbors say that new place is MLK and Interstate.

"I don't want this in the neighborhood. I don't want this around schools; there's a school on this street," neighbor JP Christy said. "I think it's something that needs to be dealt with but not just by shooing them from one part of the city to the other. It's like a leaf blower, you know?"

It's bad news for the people living there, but they said they're not really sure what the solution is or if there is one.

"Prostitutes are going to be everywhere. You can't stop them. They're going to find ways to do what they do," neighbor Shevon Taylor said.

"I think that it's sad for the simple fact that if it was my sister or cousin or something like that, I wouldn't know what to do, really," Block said.

Another reason people said prostitutes frequent the area is because of the MAX line.

If an officer in a squad car sees something suspicious, he would have to drive several blocks before he could turn around, and by that time, the prostitutes are usually gone.