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The world’s oldest profession has San Pablo Avenue merchants flagging down police officers. Again. 

Shop owners between Ashby Avenue and Dwight Way say the number of prostitutes pacing their blocks has gotten out of hand and that police are doing little to stop it. 

“I’ve seen as many as 15 ladies in one day and they’re always the same ones,” said Jack Fox, owner a San Pablo transmission shop. “It’s the most negative atmosphere a business could ask for.” 

Fox said prostitution has been a problem for his shop since it opened in 1977, but the last two months have been the worst. 

“Every day, all day it’s a steady stream of women flagging down cars,” he said.  

San Pablo Avenue has long been the mecca of Berkeley prostitution. It offers prostitutes heavy car traffic and easy access to isolated spots such as Aquatic Park where they conduct business. 

Fox and nearby merchants said they have complained to police, but say the number of prostitutes walking past their stores continues to grow. 

“Apathy has set in. We don’t think the city will do anything to support us,” he said. 

Police, however, say they are confronting the problem.  

Lt. Cynthia Harris said police made 72 prostitution arrests on San Pablo Avenue during the first half of this year, slightly higher than average. 

Berkeley police routinely perform sting operations along San Pablo Avenue, said Sgt. Dave Odom. Undercover officers pose as prostitutes or prospective clients to target prostitutes and johns, the men who seek their services.  

The undercover operations often result in arrests, but otherwise, Odom said, unless an officer catches a prostitute getting into a car, there is little an officer can do except demand that she leave the city. 

“A beat officer can approach them and check them for warrants,” Odom said. If they find that the prostitute is on probation the officer might threaten the woman with telling her probation officer.  

But merchants say Berkeley can do more to address the problem. 

They cite a recent Oakland law allowing authorities to confiscate cars of convicted johns. 

“If you tighten up an area like Oakland, they’re going to move here,” said Felipe Romero, a San Pablo shop owner who said prostitutes were crossing over to the Berkeley side of San Pablo Avenue. 

Sgt. Odom doubted that the confiscation law or other Oakland police measures account for the reported surge in Berkeley prostitution. He noted that most prostitution on the Oakland side of San Pablo takes place well south of the Berkeley border.  

He also said the frequency of prostitution correlates closely to seasons and the time of month. There are more prostitutes in the summer when there is no rain and at the end of the month, when some women have spent their welfare checks and need money, he said. 

Prostitutes arrested in Berkeley and Oakland are tried in Alameda County criminal court. According to Alameda County Assistant District Attorney John Adams, first-time offenders are usually slapped with a “stay away” order preventing them from returning to the neighborhood where they were arrested. Second-time offenders get a fine and possible jail time, and third-time offenders receive a jail sentence, he said. 

Adams said the key to curtailing prostitution is developing a reputation as a city that does not tolerate it. 

“Prostitution moves around,” he said. “If the heat’s on in Berkeley, they go to San Francisco. If the heat’s on in San Francisco, they move to Fresno.”  

San Pablo merchants say the health of their businesses depends on Berkeley doing more to discourage prostitutes from calling their block home. 

“My lady customers know San Pablo has a reputation for prostitution and they’re intimidated to come down here,” Fox said. 

Romero has similar concerns. “You can see the disgust in the customer’s face,” he said. 

Contact reporter at  

matt@berkeleydailyplanet.net