Shutting Down Illicit Massage Parlors Proves Challenging for CT Police

Proving prostitution is taking place at a massage parlor is one of the many challenges for the Connecticut police.

Police are frustrated by the "significant obstacles that make investigating massage parlors and then shutting them down for good extremely difficult" according to a recent article on the ctinsider website.

The strategy regarding who gets arrested has changed over the years. In most cases, it used to be that the prostitutes were the ones who got arrested at the massage parlors. Dan Casagrande, an attorney who rewrote the massage ordinances in Danbury told ctinsider.com,

The solution is not to arrest the women - the solution is to go systemically against the owners.

CT Insider took on an investigation examining 10 years of police records for 30 Connecticut massage parlors. Many of these businesses were suspected of prostitution but to prove it, police needed to see money being exchanged. Police are not allowed to just barge in unless they've obtained a warrant.

The bottom line is police find that it's an uphill battle to combat illegal sex work. Many massage parlors employ East Asian women which means often times there's a language barrier. The most difficult challenge for police is finding a complainant. There are two willing individuals taking part, so who's complaining?