• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • May 9, 2025

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

MPD Pilot Program Takes New Approach to Tackle Prostitution

April 24, 2021

By Edgar Mendez
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.

Officers refer women to the Benedict Center’s Sisters Program, which offers street outreach and other services. (Photo courtesy of the Benedict Center)

Officers in Milwaukee Police Department’s District 2 are trying something new to address the street-based sex trade on Milwaukee’s South Side: Instead of arresting female prostitutes, they are offering help.

“The plan is to approach the women in a non-enforcement setting,” said David Salazar, who has served as captain of District 2 since June. “It’s truly an outreach.”

In the program, which began in March, officers conduct a wellness check and try to connect the women, who are often victims of human trafficking and suffer from substance abuse issues, with community resources.

“We’re more than willing to convey a ride to one of the service providers,” Salazar said. “After time, they will see that even the police want to see them get better.”

The Benedict Center’s Sisters Program, which helps women in the sex trade, is one of the providers. The program runs drop-in centers on the South and North sides of the city.

“I think it’s an opportunity for the police and for District 2 to demonstrate the role that they can play as community resources, as helpers and as links to resources,” said Jeanne Geraci, executive director of the Benedict Center.

Other partners include the Milwaukee County Housing Division, Southside Organizing Center, the District Attorney’s Office and the Medical College of Wisconsin. All collaborate in a larger effort called the Milwaukee Providing Opportunities for Wellness, Empowerment and Recovery project, or MPOWER. The goal of MPOWER is to work collaboratively with women in the street-based sex trade and divert them from the criminal justice system and into treatment or other resources, including housing.

The first several weeks of the pilot yielded mixed results, Salazar said. Women were still hesitant to speak with officers for fear of being arrested. But rapport is being developed, he said, and half the women that police have contacted have expressed interest in recovery from addiction.

In addition, specialists from the Milwaukee County Housing Division’s Homeless Outreach Team have been activated to assist in case a woman would rather speak with someone other than an officer or take a ride to the Sisters Program, but not in a squad car.

So far that hasn’t happened, said Stephanie Nowak, lead community intervention specialist for the Housing Division. But her team has gone out at the same time as officers and conducted similar outreach efforts.

“We encountered about two to three women on each shift we were out who were interested in a follow-up in the future and to talk about long-term housing and who accepted goods we had available,” she said.

Regardless of the positive intention of officers, the women are still apprehension to engage with police, she said. That’s why she urges other organizations that have a positive presence in the neighborhood to help, particularly those who can offer real-time resources such as clean needles, fentanyl test strips, condoms and other items.

Salazar said he hopes the program will eventually yield more results. He also wants residents to know his department is taking a balanced approach to addressing prostitution on the South Side.

“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to arrest a woman engaged in prostitution,” he said. “At the same time, we’re trying to divert them and provide them a pathway to services, because if we don’t do that, then the same problems are still going to occur.”

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Benedict Center, Edgar Mendez, Milwaukee Police Department, Prostitution, Sisters Program

Read More - Related Articles

  • Milwaukee County Appears Ready to Find Replacement for SDC
  • Two Former SDC Board Members Reflect on the Agency’s Past and Future
  • Future of the Office of Community Wellness and Safety in Jeopardy Amid Funding Uncertainties
  • New Campaign Urges Black Community in Milwaukee to Use Naloxone to Reduce Overdose Deaths
  • Falsifying Reports. Found ‘Not Credible.’ Why Aren’t They on Milwaukee’s List of Cops With Integrity Issues?
Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On X
Follow Us On X

Editorials

Lakeshia Myers
Michelle Bryant
Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi formerly known as Dr. Ramel Smith

Journalists

Karen Stokes

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

David Crowley
Cavalier Johnson
Marcelia Nicholson
Governor Tony Evers
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2025 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.