The Drug War And Its Effects On The City Of San Francisco

Nonetheless, there are hardly any available studies into the burdensome costs for enforcing these crimes because so few politicians have been courageous enough to challenge the status quo. With that said, the city of San Francisco once organized a non-partisan group comprised of local activists, attorneys, police, and members of the mayor’s office to research this issue. Ultimately, the San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution determined the total budgetary costs (including law enforcement, jails, courts, etc.) of policing prostitution in their city was over $7.6 million for the year of 1994. Obviously, those costs have clearly increased substantially since then. As detailed in The Drug War: A Trillion Dollar Con Game, there is a massive â€Å"prison industrial complex† that profits from an increased prison population. Likewise, money and special interests generally explain the motivations behind several of the flaws in the criminal justice system. With that in mind, politicians usually care more about public perception rather than effective governing. Thus, prostitution stings give the impression of a government that is â€Å"tough on crime.† Prostitution arrests are low hanging fruit for the law enforcement community because it is highly visible and it doesn’t take a brilliant detective to rack up convictions for this crime. At a time when support for the drug war has drastically declined, several media outlets are now reporting how asset forfeiture laws can lead toShow MoreRelatedSocial Justice Reformers And The Progressive Era925 Words   |  4 Pagessame laws, which allowed police to shut down brothels as â€Å"public nuisances† as long as there were complaints from concerned citizens and the judge agreed with their opinion. Consequently, many cities began shutting down their red-light districts, but some notable cities such San Francisco, New Orleans, and San Antonio didn’t enforce the new laws. 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