As Super Bowl XLVI draws huge crowds and international attention to Indianapolis, city officials and police will keep their eyes on a seedier side of the game that could bring hundreds of prostitutes to town.
Some will come in from other cities and advertise themselves on websites as "escorts" offering massages and other services. Police are issuing a warning: That next client you visit in Indianapolis just might be a cop.
Last week, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Department of Code Enforcement used the crowds visiting for the Brickyard 400 to set up a sting of unlicensed escorts as practice for more enforcement efforts leading up to the Super Bowl.
"There will be more prostitutes here than this city can handle," said Lt. Richard Kivett, commander of IMPD's vice unit. "They will flood in here." . . .
Arrest a hooker, and she will face a night in jail and, in some cases, a small fine. But write her a ticket, and she'll face a fine of up to $2,500 and a court order to find a new line of work.
City Prosecutor Helen Marchal said the fines are up to $7,500 for repeat offenders. The typical fine is about $500.
"With the civil case, you really hurt them by dipping into their pocketbooks," Marchal said. "If the arrest doesn't act as a deterrent, maybe the fine will."
A city ordinance requires escorts to get a license. An escort license is $103 for a person. Licensed escorts also must work for a city-approved escort agency, which needs a separate license that costs $319.
Because the city has no licensed escorts, Code Enforcement administrator Adam Collins said, any working in Indianapolis are violating the ordinance.
"The Super Bowl is a huge event that has a large impact on Downtown," Collins said. "Doing these stings in conjunction with IMPD is something that neighborhoods benefit from on a daily basis."
Although homicides and other violent crimes make headlines, Collins said, prostitution is one of the biggest complaints from many neighborhood groups . . .
Are these people serious? C'mon, the prostitutes that operate during the Super Bowl are brought into town by the wealthy men who come into town to attend the Super Bowl. They fly first class and get a limo drive to their hotel courtesy of their patrons. They don't advertise on Craigslist or walk the streets like this transsexual shown above being busted [Updated: See photo of arrestee Austria Andrews with Mayor Greg Ballard below]. You will probably find a lot of them at a big private party thrown by one of our esteemed civic leaders like the big birthday party bash Tim Durham threw for himself a few short years ago at his Geist mansion with the protection of off-duty cops, which was attended by nearly 1,000 of your city's most prominent civic leaders and assorted pseudo celebrities before the federal government closed down his Ponzi scheme. The only purpose behind these busts is to make sure there isn't any local competition around by the time the Super Bowl takes place.
UPDATED: The additional photos from the Star photo gallery that accompanied the online story are quite entertaining, including this one:
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| Mayor Greg Ballard With Austria Andrews |
