Editorial: Progressive program is saving girls

Friday, Dec. 5, 2003 | 5:51 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION Dec. 6 - 7, 2003

How long can a teenage girl working as a street prostitute last before her life is irreparably harmed? Not very long.

Nearly 10 years ago that question and that answer were a principal reason for the founding of STOP, which stands for Stop Turning Out Child Prostitutes. This is a Metro Police program that works in cooperation with local judges and Clark County juvenile probation officials. While all police officers are on the lookout for juvenile prostitutes, Metro Police has stepped up the priority by assigning six detectives to work full-time with STOP. Since 1994, when the program began, more than 800 children between the ages of 11 and 17 have been arrested for working as prostitutes.

The Sun's Jen Lawson examined those arrests and the STOP program in general in stories that appear in today's Sun. We were heartened to read of Metro's progressive approach. Lawson writes, "The STOP program is built on the belief that underage prostitutes aren't criminals but victims of pimps." This is entirely the right philosophy and sets Las Vegas apart from much of the rest of the country, where child prostitutes have little or no help with rehabilitation after their arrests.

Under the STOP program, however, police and county officials spend hours, days and weeks talking to the girls (and occasionally boys). After being valued so long for the money they brought in off the streets, can these children learn to again value themselves as human beings? The officers work hard to bring that about. The children are also offered the chance to spend all the time they need at the Children of the Night home in Van Nuys, Calif., a group home with a proven record of success in rehabilitating young lives.

Adults who prey on children are among us in growing numbers. Metro Police, through STOP and its regular policing efforts, is showing compassion for children while targeting pimps and other adult offenders as criminals. We're not alone in thinking this is the right approach. Officers with STOP have saved cards and letters from numerous young people thanking them for helping to turn their lives around.