Battleground Vallejo, Calif.: Neighborhood Watchdogs Launch 'Ho Patrol' to Help Crack Down on Prostitution

Aug. 11, 2011— -- Once a quiet little neighborhood for raising families, Vallejo, Calif., has become overrun with crime and prostitution after budget cuts have reduced the city's police force by almost half. So a small team of residents are taking matters into their own hands.

A snapshot of the dire straits in which the Great Recession has placed many communities, prostitutes and pimps can be seen plying their tricks in broad daylight in the middle of the residential area of this San Francisco suburb.

Vallejo resident Kathy Beistel, a 48-year-old who works in the wine industry, said she has watched the city's crime rate rise and its reputation sink. One day, the problem landed on her doorstep.

"Kinda the catalyst…[there] was a pimp fight in front of [my] house," Beistel said. "At that moment I was just angry. That was like the final straw for a lot of us."

Beistel called the police to report the incident. But she learned there weren't enough officers to handle the problem. The city was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2008, creating a ripple effect of crime through the streets.

"We used to have 158 officers, we have 90 now," said Vallejo police Chief Robert Nichelini. "So you can see that's a pretty big cut."

Many believe the cutbacks are related to the influx of streetwalkers and pimps. But Beistel wasn't just going to stand by and watch it happen. So she and a few of her friends decided to take to the streets themselves. Known colloquially as the "ho patrol," Beistel's group calls themselves the Kentucky Street Watch Owls.

Armed with fluorescent vests, cell phones and note pads, the ladies snap photos and write down descriptions of people they suspect to be johns, hookers and pimps. They even go so far as to disrupt tricks by making their appearance known.

"We're out here walking around with a specific purpose: to make our streets better, to make our streets safer, to get the message out there, that what we see on a daily basis isn't going to be tolerated," said Pat MacKenzie, a member of the Watch Owls.