‘That’s just so abhorrent to me’: Former King County sheriff says city has failed Aurora, but arresting sex workers is first step

After 95 shootings in two years along Aurora Avenue, former King County Sheriff John Urquhart said arresting sex workers is the first step toward curbing the violence.

Urquhart explained to “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that arresting sex workers won’t completely eradicate the issue, but will break up the crime and lead to fewer shootings.

“If the sex workers are gone, the pimps are gone. If the pimps are gone, the shootings will stop, and the johns will be gone,” he said.

Urquhart said catching shooters and building cases against pimps is far harder than targeting the sex workers themselves, and that dispersing them is the fastest way to disrupt the cycle of violence.

“It’s really difficult to find those shooters, very, very difficult — you can put officers out there, 24/7, we already have officers out there, but not enough — it’s hard to do that. It’s easier, probably in the long term, to work on the sex workers,” he said. “You’re never going to solve the problem of prostitution. Remember, it’s the world’s oldest profession. Everybody knows that. But what you can do is disperse it, you can get them to go to other areas, you can break them up. We used to call it a stir in the pot.”

When KIRO host Gee Scott asked if that would just push the crime into other neighborhoods, Urquhart responded yes, but said it’s a much easier move than going after the shooters or the pimps.

“You can’t solve that problem without dispersing it elsewhere. It’s not a perfect solution, I get it, but it’s good for the people in that particular neighborhood. And when you spread it out, it’s not as concentrated,” Urquhart explained.

KIRO host Ursula Reutin pushed back, saying enforcement should focus on the pimps and the johns, not the sex workers, who are mostly young women being victimized.

Urquhart agreed that sex workers at the street level are all victims and have most likely been victimized their entire lives.

“Don’t get me wrong, they are absolutely victims, and just arresting them is not the total solution, but it is one tool in our toolbox that we can use to break this up to disperse the sex workers, because I don’t have any place to take them as a patrol officer,” he said.

Urquhart explained that for a pimp to be arrested, someone has to testify against them, and that a sex worker would not testify against a pimp. He added that the number one goal should be protecting the sex workers.

“They are victims, and I have a tremendous amount of empathy and sympathy for them, protecting them,” he said.

Urquhart believes Seattle leaders need to do a better job of showing the Aurora neighborhood and surrounding communities that they care.

“Imagine if you live in those neighborhoods, on each side of Aurora that are basically blue-collar neighborhoods, and going out in the mornings and picking up the used condoms, and then counting the gunshots at night, that’s where government has failed,” he said. “The government has failed these people who live there in primarily blue-collar neighborhoods, where their entire net worth is tied up in their house. It’s going to be difficult to sell if there are gunshots and prostitution a block away, and it’s difficult to sleep. That’s just so abhorrent to me as a former government worker that we can’t do a better job, and we need to figure out how to do a better job.”

‘I would immediately legalize it’: Gee and Ursula give their own solutions for Aurora problem

Gee and Ursula later reacted to the interview with Urquhart. Gee said he was “shocked” that Urquhart said he would arrest the sex workers so that the crime would be dispersed.

“He said to protect the sex workers, number one, and the second goal is to protect the neighborhood. I’m confused because if the goal is to protect the sex workers in the neighborhood, and you use the solution of dispersing it — I’m confused,” Gee said. “Because he even admits that that would bring crime to other neighborhoods, so what about those neighborhoods?”

Ursula pointed out that arresting sex workers worked for Urquhart when he dealt with prostitution in Sea-Tac.

“He is saying that this was the experience that they had, which was not to arrest the sex workers as if they are the worst of the problem. It is taking the problem out of there,” she said.

However, Ursula disagreed with Urquhart’s idea that arresting sex workers is the solution, and said that law enforcement should instead crack down on the pimps and johns.

Gee drew a comparison to drug enforcement, noting that arrests of drug users don’t address the root of the problem.

A few listeners of the show texted in to share their thoughts.

“John is right, I was trafficked as a teenager, and when arrested repeatedly, it got known as a hot spot, and we would get moved sometimes out of state by the pimps,” one listener wrote.

“A friend of mine has a daughter who struggled with heroin addiction for more than 10 years, and it wasn’t until she was arrested that things finally changed,” another listener wrote. “Today, she has completely turned her life around and is finishing her master’s degree, so she can help others who have faced the same challenges that she did.”

Gee pointed back to the drug crisis, saying that while there are exceptions, arresting drug addicts doesn’t work. Gee added that if he were in power, he would immediately legalize it.

“The reason why I would legalize it is because we need to first decrease the crimes that are around it. There’s human trafficking that’s happening — we need to get to the bottom of that. There are women who are being held and trafficked against their will — we need to get to the bottom of that. So I want to make sure that the women are safer, the johns are safer, and we can get rid of the pimp stuff,” he said.

Ursula said she would flood the area with police officers, would arrest the johns and the pimps, and would try to get help for the women being trafficked.

Watch both discussions in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.