Police Ready Challenge #4

July 13, 2009

The downtown core is a dandy place for hookers. The high stroll and the low stroll; they each have their own territory staked out. The low stroll usually prefers to hang out in areas close to a residential neighborhood, as it gives the johns a chance to look a bit more respectable while cruising the wares on the street corners.

Dispatch reports a call from a teenage hooker who alleges two johns beat her and stole her money and left her for dead on the outskirts of the city. She managed to get to a farm and call for help. She’s in really rough condition and needs medical assistance. She is able to give you the license number of the vehicle she was in and the first names of the two men who picked her up and beat her. She is First Nations.

What would you do in this situation?

1) Take a report, take her to hospital and pay lip service to trying to find the vehicle and the two men? After all she is a prostitute.
2) Take her to hospital immediately, call a female police officer for assistance and to help conduct a rape kit, contact dispatch to run the license plates, then pay the vehicle owner a visit?
3) Contact a tribal elder to come and pick her up and let them deal with it. After all she’s a member of a tribe that has their own police presence?

Based on your selected option, here are brief descriptions that explains the outcome of each option.

1) Not a good option. You have been sworn to protect and serve the community. While she may be a prostitute, she is still entitled to protection under the law. What the two johns did was illegal.
2) This is your best option, to collect and preserve evidence for a potential court case later.
3) Not all of this is a good option. However contacting a female tribal elder is a good idea, as it will help the young girl cope with the situation to have help from her own people. Whether or not her reservation has a police presence is irrelevant, as the crime took place off reserve and it is your job and duty to seek justice for the young girl.

Joshua Mok
Police Ready
www.PoliceReady.com