BEVERLY — A citywide crackdown on massage parlors — called "Operation Hot Towel" — busted six different parlors where prostitution was happening and led to the closure of 10 locations, police said. From McKinley Park to Edison Park, police and city inspectors tried to root out parlors where prostitution was happening and parlors operating without proper licenses.
On Wednesday, Ald. Matt O'Shea 19th will propose an ordinance in Chicago's City Council aimed at massage parlors that rely on prostitution and human trafficking. The ordinance was written by O'Shea with the help of anti-human trafficking advocates as well as the Chicago Police Department and the city's Department of Business and Consumer Protection.
The spirit of the new ordinance is to do away with the previous method of enforcement that relied on simply arresting massage parlor employees and charging them with prostitution.
The new ordinance goes after business owners or those profiting from the illegal enterprise while offering help to those who get mixed up in this illicit profession through human trafficking, O'Shea said.
The recent "Operation Hot Towel" sting found prostitution at six massage parlors throughout the city, according to Lt. The police worked side by side with the city's business and consumer affairs personnel who also wrote tickets as part of the sting. The department's regulators visited massage parlors they expected might be in violation of city licensing codes April 10 and May 8, spokeswoman Lilia Chacon said. She said 11 massage parlors were issued cease-and-desist orders and 10 were closed down — several for not having any city business license at all.
