Police Skeptical About Impact of Craigslist Changes

May 13, 2009

by Denise Hnytka (WICHITA, Kan)

It's been under fire since a high-profile murder in Boston.

Police say the so-called 'Craigslist Killer' used the popular web site to find his victims.

Now Craigslist has agreed to removed it 'erotic services' section. It's been called nothing more than an Internet brothel. The Wichita section alone has dozens of ads and little is left to the imagination.

"They are now finally, finally going to be monitoring this site," said Cook County, Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart, during a news conference.

Sheriff Dart says Craigslist has become the largest source of prostitution in the country. It's also been a concern for Wichita police. Officers go undercover to fight the problem in the South Bureau.

"We will look at the Craigslist site on occasion," said Capt. John Speer. "We've actually done operations at local motels around here."

Though Craigslist has been an easy tool for them, Capt. Speer can't say the changes the site is promising will have an impact. Even Sheriff Dart is skeptical.

"We've heard promises before," he said. "But we are going in the right direction."

Capt. Speer isn't so sure. He says getting rid of the ads on Craigslist inevitably means they will pop up somewhere else.

"It just presents another challenge," said Speer. "We have to figure out now what's going to be used."

They'll keep adjusting to the problem, on the way to a solution.

"The challenge is really enormous," said Speer. "But it doesn't mean we're not going to try."

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