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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1982)
Page 2 Portland Observer, April 1,1982 Kelly heads Home Improvement Council NEIL KELLY Neil Kelly has been elected presi dent o f the N a tio n a l H om e Im provement Council. C hairm an o f the Board o f P o rt land’s Neil Kelly Designer/Remod elers, Kelly was unanimously elected at N H IC ’s Board o f Directors meet ing held during the C o u n c il’ s na tional convention in Houston, this month. C iting the rapidly increasing de mand fo r rem odeling through the United States, Kelly said he would dedicate his year as president to en couraging more effective use o f the association’ s legislative voice, in creasing national and chapter mem bership and renewing efforts to help contractors become m ore profes sional and proficient. Kelly has been active in the N a tional Home Improvement Council for more than fourteen years. In ad d itio n to serving as president o f N H I C ’ s Oregon C h ap ter (O regon Remodelers A ssociation) he has »k* national organization in many capacities, the most recent being first vice president and C o n vention Program Committee C hair man. K elly is a frequent speaker at home building and remodeling con ferences throu g h o u t the U n ite d States, and his firm is one o f the 10 largest in gross sales in the United Prostitution: The police hold no answers Part IV by Harris Levon McRae Irate citizens ask why prostitutes cannot be taken o f f the streets. Where are the police? The law states that a person who agrees to a sex act for a fee is com m itting prostitution; all that is ne cessary to break the law is to agree to com m it the act fo r a specific price. So why are the prostitutes still on the street? Even thous the law forbids both pim ping and buying sex fro m a prostitute, the prostitutes and not the pimps or customers are usually arrested. Still, many Portland citi zens do not feel that enough prosti tutes are being arrested. “ I think prostitution is immoral. Now the cops even chat with them. There is much more o f it these days. I know the police have their prob lems but they could slow it down— c o n tro l it; it's way out o f hand now,” said one business person. I talked to several business owners in areas that prostitutes fre quent and then went downtown to talk to Captain Tobin, head o f the Drug and Vice Division o f the Port land Police Department, to get to day’s story. One shop owner told me, “ I t ’ s embarrassing fo r me and my cus tomers to see ’hookers’ out there on the comer. It doesn’t add to a busi ness atmosphere. The more you call the cops, the more prostitutes are out there. I have seen the police jo k ing w ith them and bringing them coffee.” I asked Captain Tobin about this and he shed some light on the sub ject: “ Prostitutes are a good source of in fo rm a tio n fo r a police o ffic e r. The prostitute on the street sees and hears a lot. M any o f the bad guys talk to prostitutes all the time. There isn’t an awful lot a uniformed o ffi cer can do about pro stitu tion . He can watch a person for a while and then make a loitering arrest if a per son is engaged in conduct sufficient to show that they are loitering for prostitution,” he said. There is a very thin line though between loitering, and, say, waiting for a ride from a friend. “ I f a woman keeps waving cars over, talking short periods o f time and sometimes getting into the car and sometimes not, we know some thing is going on. Out o f 72 prosti tu tio n charges last m o n th , eight were fo r lo ite r in g ," the C ap tain said. 1 told Captain Tobin that a couple o f prostitutes seemed to have the vice squad’s bust pattern down pat. H e rep lied, “ Prostitutes on the streets usually think they have our pattern set. This gets them in to trouble with us as well as the other prostitutes that they tell the pattern to .” N o t all business people are against women being on the street selling sex to earn a living. One busi ness owner told me th a t, “ They know their lim its, they know what they can or can ’ t do. They d o n ’ t bother business people that much. I t ’s the oldest game in the world— they ain’t gonna stop it now.” I m entioned e a rlie r that even though the law forbids both pim ping and buying sex from a prostitute, it is usually the prosti tutes who are arrested. One result o f the prostitutes being defined as criminals is that it leaves prostitutes unwilling to turn in their pimps— and i f the pimps a ren ’ t turned in, they can’t be prosecuted. “ There is a lot o f pressure from the community for the police to ar rest the John [customer]. We have a lot o f fem ale o ffic ers used as de coys. The John will drive up and ne gotiate the whole deal with a female officer and she will make the arrest (w ith the help o f back-up u n its),” Captain Tobin said. Street prostitution is prevalent all over the city o f Portland: on Sandy B lvd., on U nion A ve ., downtown, on Burnside— all over. “ There are a lot o f women that have chosen p ro s titu tio n as their profession. They may have chosen it for any number o f reasons— lack o f training skills, no motivation to go to school, no matter what you do to force some o f these women in to a rehabilitation program, they will go back,” Captain Tobin said. One thing that business people and police officials alike believe is that “ prostitution is here to stay.” Captain Tobin: “ Hard time in my opinion is not the answer but the po lice or criminal justice system has to provide an a lte rn a tiv e . M ayb e a work release program. I know that in P o rtlan d we need to be able to. take the prostitute o ff the street and put them into some type o f govern ment custody.” There are several ways that wom en can be helped and supported as far as leaving prostitution or never getting involved in it. W e— our so ciety— need to have a large-scale program o f support and services which realizes how severe the situa tion o f a woman trying to stay out o f p ro s titu tio n is. T h e support should include food and a place to sleep, counseling and help in devel oping other economic alternatives such as a jo b or educational p ro gram. “ Some o f the churches have been trying to help women who are in volved in p ro stitu tio n . They con tacted the girls personally in a lov ing approach. They have had some positive response. Some girls are leaving the streets and starting to at tend church,” Captain Tobin said. “ There is a need to keep teen-age girls from going into prostitution. I f you can get them when they are young, you have a good chance o f being able to help them. When they are 18 and over it is usually their chosen profession and very little can be done to keep them from going back to the street.” India studies CIA activity Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has announced a juridical committee to investigate C IA a ctiv ity in In d ia . The magazine In d ia Observer has charged that a large number o f In d ia n intellectu als, po litician s, jo u rn alists and businessmen are working for the C IA . Interest in C IA activity was re cently renewed by the expulsion of a U .S. research team for neighboring Pakistan. David N elin, head o f the Medical Research Center o f P aki stan, in Lahore, was asked to leave the country follow ing the publica tion o f an article on his work in th Soviet magazine L ite ra tu rn a ic C azeta. Nelin said, “ O u r jo b is to develop a new type o f super mosqui to ” that would elim inate the com mon mosquitos that are the carriers o f m alaria and other diseases. He admitted that the experiments could also be used for biological warfare. T he research center headed by Nelin was a branch o f the University o f M a ry la n d and its work was 4 supervised by the U.S. consul in La hore and a local representative o f the Agency for International Devel- opment (A ID ). Some o f A ID ’S staff is reported to w ork fo r the C IA . Two generals o f the Pakistani army also are on the staff, as military ex perts. The magazine article charged that N elin was developing m osquito- borne bacteria for use against A f ghanistan. Although the C IA dismissed the report as “ Soviet propaganda,” the State Departm ent confirm ed that Nelin was deported and the research center closed. A s im ilar research center was closed in In d ia in 1972 when evidence was produced to show that it was involved in C IA plans for biological warfare. The appearance o f mysterious vi ruses in crops and outbreaks o f strange diseases lead to the fear that India is the target o f U .S. chemical and biological weapons. Cases o f sudden diseases o f the liver and outbreaks o f conjunctivit is, meningitis, and encephalitis have been reported in d ifferent parts o f India since mid-1981. Agricultural workers have been seriously affect ed by the mysterious appearance o f the so-called “ green disease.” T o bacco workers are hit by the strange disease that causes respiratory dis orders, vomiting and dizziness. Experts were taken by surprise by the destruction o f large fru it and vegetable plantations north o f New Delhi this fall. Indian media has warned (hat In dia and other nations bordering the Indian Ocean may become guinea pigs in experiments w ith new U .S . chemical weapons transported by U .S. ships operating in the Indian Ocean. An article in the N ational H erald warned o f the peril o f chemical war fare being developed by the U .S ., pointing out that chemical and nu clear weapons at the Diego Garcia military base, just 1200 miles from India, have a range o f 4,000 miles. States. The N a tio n a l H o m e Im p ro v e ment Council is the largest trade as sociation representing all segments o f the remodeling industry. Its 3,500 member com panies include con tracto rs, m a n u factu rers, w h o le salers, utilities, lenders and publish ing concerns. Kelly and his w ife , A rlene, have eight children. LR’S AND NATE'S ANTIQUE HAND CAR WASH & W AX *3°° Wax*12°° Car wash aoonkic 1330 N.E. 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W e talk and discusa our plans for the day es we get our exercise in the privacy of our ow n living room " " It is amazing how fifteen to twenty msx/tse of exerciee a day on the Vitakrer helps increase my eneryy mental y alertness and enthusiasm It helps tone my whole body for physical competition ” Solar C o ./Im p o rt Division is anxious to have you stop be and get acquainted. There are full color catalogs available, and many samples on display in the show room. Prompt and courteous treatment is the motto o f Solar Co. Their phone number is 283- 4003. An additional cash discount is yours when you mention you read this article in the Portland Observer. FredMeyer S h o p p m q ( r n lfc , J Super Shopping Centers Help Lower Your Cost of Living . . . Your nearby Fred Meyer Super Shopping Center i; filled with ' P >p|e Pleasing" services to make your shopping more pleasant. 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