New Study Finds CPD Cracking Down On Sex Workers, Not Traffickers

By Aleezeh Hasan, Nereida Moreno
Melinda McMichael
Melinda McMichael has been sober and off the street for two years. She said during her 10 years selling sex in Chicago she frequently was arrested, but the cops did nothing to the men paying her for sex. Patrick Smith / WBEZ
Melinda McMichael
Melinda McMichael has been sober and off the street for two years. She said during her 10 years selling sex in Chicago she frequently was arrested, but the cops did nothing to the men paying her for sex. Patrick Smith / WBEZ

New Study Finds CPD Cracking Down On Sex Workers, Not Traffickers

By Aleezeh Hasan, Nereida Moreno
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Chicago Police are undermining efforts to stop sexual exploitation by focusing on people selling sex, rather than those buying sex or trafficking. That’s according to a new study from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.

Reset sits down with the study’s lead author and WBEZ’s criminal justice reporter for more on this issue.

GUESTS: Madeleine Behr, policy associate at Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

Patrick Smith, WBEZ criminal justice reporter