Examining the Impact of the Cincinnati Police Department’s Comprehensive Prostitution Intervention

• In Event: Police Strategies Targeting Illegal Markets

Abstract

In January 2014, the Cincinnati, Ohio Police Department began implementing a comprehensive street prostitution intervention called the McMicken PATH Project. This intervention was focused on a 2.3-mile mixed-use stretch of McMicken Avenue which has historically been associated with one of the highest concentrations of street prostitution activity in the city, as well as disproportionate levels of drug sales and violent crime. The project involved a series of situational crime prevention strategies, including directed police patrols, police decoys, targeting problem places, installing traffic barricades and distributing social services information. The current paper evaluates the effectiveness of this intervention.

Authors

• Samantha Marie Henderson, University of Cincinnati

• Arelys Madero-Hernandez, Northern Kentucky University

• Robin S. Engel, University of Cincinnati