The Prince George’s County Council is considering legislation that would create “prostitution-free zones” in the county, an effort police say could help eradicate prostitution from the county entirely. Councilwoman Andrea Harrison, D-Bladensburg, introduced the bill, which would create areas similar in effect to drug-free zones near schools and playgrounds, she said.
For the residents of Fairmount Heights, near Eastern Avenue and the D.C. border, that could mean no more used condoms lying on sidewalks or in church parking lots and no more would-be clients prowling the area for sex.
The stretch of Eastern Avenue, which splits Maryland and the District, has been a hotbed of prostitution for years, according to neighbors and residents.
After picking up prostitutes along Eastern Avenue, customers would drive into Fairmount Heights to find alleys or vacant parking lots to perform their sex acts, according to Andina Keith, Fairmount Heights resident and founder of Citizens Against Prostitution.
Watching a half-naked prostitute running through the street in the morning had become all too common, she said.
“Last year, it was so bad that while our children were standing at the bus stop in the morning, they were witnessing the prostitutes up on Eastern Avenue and seeing the used condoms and syringes,” Keith said. “Prostitution in this area is 24 hours a day.”
Maj. George Nader, commander at Palmer Park Station, said police responded to complaints from Fairmount Heights residents earlier this year, and have since stepped up enforcement to catch prostitutes and their clients, known as johns, in the act.
“When we went out and started assessing the situation, we realized that there was heavy prostitution involving females and transgender males,” Nader said.
If caught congregating in a prostitution-free zone with the intent of engaging in a sexual act, prostitutes or their johns can be charged with misdemeanor offense, according to the legislation.
Violators would face a $1,000 fine and up to a six-month sentence.
The only planned zone so far is along Eastern Avenue, but Nader said police are prepared to follow the crime as necessary, and will rely on residents to let them know where prostitution crops up in other areas of the county.
“The intent of this bill is not to move them, but to eradicate it as much as possible,” Harrison said. “The police will be very diligent in watching the trends so that they don’t move farther down Eastern Avenue, or down to Southern Avenue or elsewhere in the county.”
