1. Dallas Police Department’s
Prostitute Diversion
Initiative
“The key to unlocking a new life”
Sgt. Louis Felini,
Dallas Police Department
Dallas, TX
17th Annual Texas
HIV/STD Conference
May 27, 2010

2. Presentation Outline
• Impetus for developing a prostitution
diversion program in Dallas, TX
• Demonstrate the need for a new approach to
the problem of prostitution
• Overview of PDI program
• A look at the data

3. September 11, 2001
changed the way we looked at truck
stops…..

4. …the ‘what if’ scenario
• Response
• Magnitude of Problem
• Economic Nightmare

5. Problem Identified
• Inadequacy of conventional approach to
address changing dynamics of truck stops
and address both local and national
concerns
Fraudulent
Prostitution documents
ASSAULTS
HOMICIDES
Robbery
Drug Theft Human
trafficking trafficking

8. Back to the
drawing board

9. Collaboration

10. Mission
• Offer concrete long-term services for
victims of sex industry and options for
exit
….while this mission is similar to other diversion
programs, the PDI is unique in that it:
• Law enforcement led
• Brings services to the streets
• Provides long-term intelligence strategy

11. PDI: Schematic Representation of Site
Cherry Valley Street
DPD 5
Mobile Command Post
Dallas
County 2 TRIAGE
Health
1
Dept.
Lancaster Blvd.
DPD
Vice
Mobile
Command
3 Post
Sheriff’s Department 4
Mobile Command Post/Community Court
Interstate 20

12. Services Provided On-Site
• STD screening and presumptive treatment
• ID Program
• Food and Clothing
• Advocacy

13. Continuation of Services in
Treatment – New Life
• Shelter and food
• Medical and mental health treatment
• Child care
• Job skills training
• Out-patient counseling for lifetime
• Opportunity for resolution of pending legal issues
upon completion of program

14. Impact on Crime in Beats
where Truck Stops Located

15. I-40 Deaths Investigation
OK, AR, MS, TX
Margaret Casey
Gardner Patsy
Pipestem
Leonard
Sandra
Richardson
Unidentified Jennifer Sandra
Hyman Beard

16. High Risk Potential Victims
DNA Database
• Highway Serial Killers
• FBI’s ViCAP Unit, Dallas County
Sheriff’s Office, and Dallas Police
Department
• University of North Texas Health Science
Center’s DNA Forensics Laboratory

17. Vision of long term return
• Development of informants
• Post-mortem identification of prostitutes
• Serve as model for other cities
• Prostitute Solicitation School
• Salvation Army Support Group
• PDI/New Life 501c3
• Resume’ Building (Thistle Farms Program)

19. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
Martha Felini, PhD DC MPH
UNTHSC Epidemiology, SPH
Fort Worth, TX

20. Team Effort
• Gabriela Cantu, MPH
• Lindsey Brown, MPH
• Gloria Mendoza, MD MPH
• Amy Abraham
• Raquel Hampton, PhD
• UNTHSC, Center for Community Health, and
PACE

21. Objectives
1) To describe basic characteristics and health
status of sex workers contacted by the PDI
program
2) To assess the efficacy of the PDI

22. Background
• Diversion programs becoming more popular
• Limited resources
• Over 500 diversion programs in US
• Majority are post-booking diversion
• PDI – pre-booking diversion
• No known data on truck-stop prostitutes
• Unknown base population
• Migratory

23. Background
(Potterat et al. 2004)
• Mortality rates 200x that of women of
similar age and race
• 18 times more likely to be murdered
• Nearly half have attempted suicide

24. Effects of Prostitution
• Individual
• Family
• Societal
• Public Health

25. Services needed to exit
prostitution, (Farley, 1998)
• Safe place/home
• Job training
• Health care
• Individual counseling
• Peer support
• Legal assistance
• Drug and alcohol treatment
• Self-defense training
• Childcare
• Physical protection from pimp

26. Study Design & Analysis
• Cross-sectional study -- convenience sample
• Eligibility criteria: Adult sex workers
contacted throughout Dallas the first
Wednesday of each month
• Descriptive statistics: univariate and bivariate
analysis

27. PDI: Preliminary Evaluation
(October 2007- May 2010)
• 491 contacted on the streets
• Majority by arrest / 27 walk ups
• 1 juvenile, 3 pimps excluded= 487
• 54 repeaters
• 246 eligible for immediate diversion
• 50% opted for treatment

28. Demographic characteristics of
prostitutes contacted (n=487)
o African-American (75%),
o Female (97%),
o Late 30’s (average: 37, range: 17-63 ),
o Caretaker (59%)*
o High school education or higher (53%)*
*among 370 participants

29. Self-reported health conditions
 Physical health conditions
o Asthma
o High Blood Pressure
o Seizures
o Others: cancer, anemia, hepatitis, lupus,
arthritis, cirrhosis, COPD

30. Distribution of self-reported
mental health conditions
 Mental health conditions
 54% self-reported having a mental condition
 Nearly 2/3 of these reported having more than one
Condition reported Proportion (n=370)
Suicide Attempt 20%
Bipolar Disorder 30%
Schizophrenia 16%
Major Depression 31%
* Data do not reflect mutually exclusive persons

31. Proportion of Drug Use
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Statistics only include 370 participants and are not mutually exclusive

32. Diagnostic Assessment
American Psychological Association DSM criteria
• Axis I = 84%
• Details mental health and substance abuse disorders
• Axis III = 37%
• Details medical conditions
• Axis V = 66%
• Global assessment of functioning
32% assessed with three axis
34% assessed with two axis
26% assessed with one axis
8% no axis designated
* Data do not reflect mutually exclusive persons

33. Disposition
Eligible Ineligible
0 100 200 300 400 500
Entered Opted to not Jail Tx
treatment enter treatment (n=211) (n=21)
(n=122) (n=124) Opportunity
to enter
program in
pre-trial
NOTE: 3 ineligibles missing release

34. Participant Success
• 25% of participants completed initial
treatment program
• 65% completing initial treatment program
remain abstinent and in supportive services
with no subsequent re-arrests in Dallas
County

35. Limitations
• Defining success
• Data quality
• Convenience sample
• Heterogeneity of prostitute population

36. What the data teaches us
• Prevalent substance abuse (95%) is self-medication
to co-exist with multiple mental health conditions
and cope with risky behaviors
• Feasibility of community organizations partnering
with law enforcement agencies to bring needed
resources directly to the streets where vulnerable
populations often experience barriers to care

37. STD DATA
Marisa Gonzales
STD Operations Manager
Dallas County Health and Human Services,
Dallas, TX

41. Germany
9% (n=561)
Spain
China
3% (n=66)
Dallas, TX 14% (n=966)
30% (n=423) South China
Senegal 11% (n=362)
29% (n=274)
Indonesia
Congo 8% (n=200)
16% (n=502)
New Guinea
32% (n=407)
Summary of studies: Proportion of
prostitutes testing positive for syphilis

42. Thank you
www.pdinewlife.org
Contact information
Sgt. Louis Felini: louis.felini@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us
Dr. Martha Felini: martha.felini@unthsc.edu
Marisa Gonzales: marisa.gonzales@dallascounty.org