Grand Chute cracks down on prostitution

GRAND CHUTE - Grand Chute officials say they're successfully cracking down on a prostitution problem, thanks to a new ordinance and cooperation from hotels.

Since 2011, cracking down on prostitution in Grand Chute has been a priority for police chief Greg Peterson.

"We were somewhat taken aback by the problem, and we knew that simply investigation and enforcement was not going to curtail that problem."

Peterson says, last July, the town put part of the burden on hotels, where the vast majority of the prostitution takes place, to help do their part. And he says the results have been encouraging.

"Staffs have been trained by management, they know what to look for and they have been calling us on a regular basis when they see signs of prostitution taking place on their properties."

Under the ordinance, the 20 hotels in Grand Chute are rated by the police department based on the number of police calls per hotel room. Based on their ratings, seven hotels have been required to add security cameras, staffing around the clock and participate in a crime prevention program.

Ryan Beebe is the president of the Fox Cities Lodging and Hospitality Association. He says preventing prostitution is something hotels are now working on together.

"If we see someone getting caught at one of the other hotels, a lot of us are reaching out to each other to inform them of these people's names so they don't get the problem. We're not trying to push this to another hotel, we're trying to stop it," he said.
 
Beebe says curbing prostitution will not only improve a hotel's image, but also help prevent other crimes from occurring.

"The more we're trying to get rid of it, the more Grand Chute will be put on that map of 'hey, don't go up there, all the hotels are watching it and they're working with the police.'"

Music to Peterson's ears.

"It's been working just great, it's been a real success."

Peterson says so far, no hotels have been cited for violations under the ordinance more than twice. Fines range from over $2,600 for a first offense up to more than $5,100 for a third violation.