Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 Source: Denver Post (CO) Webpage: www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E11%257E691987,00.html Copyright: 2002 The Denver Post Corp Contact: http://www.denverpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122 Author: Cindy Brovsky STINGS FAIL TO CURB E. COLFAX VICE Some Want To Publicize Johns' Photos Monday, June 24, 2002 - Nightlife on the East Colfax Avenue corridor began Friday with a crack dealer frantically running down an alley and being greeted by a half-dozen police cars. An undercover female officer didn't have to wear high heels and a mini-skirt to attract four solicitations for sex in 30 minutes. Her T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes were the same kind of clothes worn by two girls - 15 and 16 - who offered sex to a male undercover officer for $50 each before asking him, "You're not a cop, are you?" Denver police are doing weekly stings from Pearl Street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood east to the Aurora border. They're busting drug dealers and prostitutes, but the offenders and customers keep coming back. The arrests are so commonplace for the neighborhood near Xenia Street that a small boy witnessing a drug bust yelled to the officers, "See you tomorrow." Mayor Wellington Webb was scheduled to ride along with the vice cops but canceled because he wasn't feeling well. The mayor has been campaigning for tougher penalties for men who solicit sex, including trying to persuade local newspapers to run the arrest mugs. The Aurora and Lakewood police departments publish photographs of johns in the Aurora and Lakewood Sentinel newspapers. The Denver Newspaper Agency, which runs the business departments of The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, has declined to run the photographs. Webb has told area residents that the city's public-access television station, Channel 8, is reviewing whether to air the mug shots, which also could appear on the city's website. "If their photographs are in the newspapers, they're not going to be able to keep it a secret from family or friends. There will be nowhere to hide," said Sgt. Mark Fleecs, who ran the sting with Sgt. Joe Montoya, Detective Mitch Wilson and a few undercover officers. Colfax's commercial strip of older motels and bars has been a magnet for prostitutes for decades. But neighbors of all economic levels - who live in renovated Victorian homes and condominiums, large apartments and modest bungalows - pleaded for help last year when out- of-town prostitutes showed up in vans and stayed all summer. "They're having sex on our porches, in our backyards and garages, and we're just sick of it," said Pamela Corvelli, a member of the Colfax Crime Coalition who lives in the South City Park neighborhood. "We should be able to walk to 7-Eleven for a cup of coffee without being solicited for drugs or sex." The city revived a patrol unit called "ESCORT" - Eliminate Street Crime on Residential Thoroughfares - for Colfax Avenue. Last year, officers nabbed 373 people for prostitution and 309 alleged customers. The vehicles of the alleged customers are confiscated, and it costs $2,000 in impound and storage fees to get the cars back. Those arrested must appear in court and can be sentenced to 60 days in jail. Judges are giving prostitutes more 30- and 60-day sentences. "I can't fault the police in any way," Corvelli said. "They have responded. But the streets are still a brothel, and we need to continue to find new ways to fight it." Corvelli, 52, endorses publishing the johns' photographs. She also has pushed for the city to make the area a "no-prostitution zone" or "restrictive zone," which the city of Aurora approved in 1993. That law limits people convicted of prostitution from returning to the area unless for a specific need, such as a job or a visit to a doctor. Aurora officials said the law has reduced the number of prostitution arrests between Yosemite and Peoria streets from one or two a week to one or two a month. Corvelli got named the "broom lady" when she chased a man who solicited her for sex while she was sweeping her front porch. She's banged the broom on parked vehicles where people are engaged in sex and has yelled, "Pimp in the neighborhood!" Her bold attitude has pitted her against some neighbors who would rather quietly fight the problem. "They say it's bad publicity for our neighborhood, but if we don't stop mold, it will grow," she said. "The police are more worried about my safety than I am. If someone shoots me, name the damn street after me. I'm not going to stay silent when people are having sex in my backyard." Fleecs, a 12-year Denver police veteran, took over the vice assignment this year. He has two full-time detectives and six part-time officers for the unit's duties, which include all liquor-license violations citywide, ticket scalping and regulations at strip joints. The mayor's cancellation didn't faze Fleecs, because he knows there will be other drug dealers, hookers and pimps when Webb is able to see the stings firsthand. "There's a frustration that no matter how many stings we do, there will be reasons to do more," Fleecs said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth