Can’t just stop Strip handbillers; that takes time and money
What 12-year-old girl deserves to be handed cards advertising nude women to hotel rooms?
Yet that happened during spring break on the Las Vegas Strip. The girl's father wrote to Clark County officials that as he and his family walked the Strip, he tried to block the handbillers, "but a couple got past me. This was embarrassing to her."
Letters, calls and emails to local officials and hotel operators vividly describe how handbillers force tourists to run a gantlet of men thrusting sexual "literature" at them. Some say they won't return to Las Vegas.
The last time families complained this angrily about the Las Vegas sex trade was in the early 1980s, when prostitutes ran unchecked on the Strip. Hookers boldly solicited men accompanied by their wives, girlfriends and children. Like today's handbillers, hookers often didn't take rejection politely.
John Moran was elected sheriff in 1982 partly on his promise that he would rid the Strip of hookers in 90 days. He did it, ordering police to arrest pimps and prostitutes repeatedly. Multiple arrests forced bail fees higher and higher. Essentially, Moran hit pimps where it hurt -- in the wallets. Blatant solicitations on the Strip certainly didn't cease, but they became more discreet.
Thirty years later, by far the No. 1 problem on the Strip is the insistent handbillers shoving sex trade materials into the hands of men, women, and, yes, children.
The difference between hookers then and handbillers now? Hookers committed crimes and the sheriff could go after them legally. Handbillers on public sidewalks are protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.
Billy Vassiliadis, Moran's consultant three decades ago handling his first campaign, agreed with my premise that there is a parallel between the two problems: "In the sense that people have to walk around them, and in the sense they're walking with their families and wives, yes, there's a parallel. But it's one step removed. The product is on paper instead of standing in front of you."
Local governments have tried to craft ordinances limiting handbillers, but courts kicked them out as unconstitutional. The county wants to try again, emulating other cities that have successfully created free speech or First Amendment zones.
The Resort Corridor Workgroup, a public/private partnership headed by County Manager Don Burnette, recently issued 32 proposals for improving the Strip. Three deal directly with handbillers.
However, success will depend on the resources Sheriff Doug Gillespie is willing to spend on sex trade hustlers, said Vassiliadis, now a gaming industry strategist. "If they step out of the zone and interfere with pedestrian traffic, they could be arrested. But it's going to be a real burden on the sheriff."
At my request, the county and MGM Resorts International shared a sample of visitor complaints.
A Houston man wrote: "In areas we were solicited every 10 feet by seedy individuals passing out cards for hookers. Seeing them hand cards to parents with babies in strollers is about the last straw. It feels like being assaulted."
Another person wrote: "It was impossible to walk outside to enjoy the sights without being bombarded by smut. Everyone knows what is 'available' in Vegas. It's not necessary to accost us with it."
One man wrote: "Please don't get me wrong from a moral point of view. I think strip clubs and even prostitution has its place in Las Vegas, but not on the Strip where you have families wanting to experience Las Vegas free from trash, harassment and verbal abuse."
A woman vowed, "I like going to Vegas but will definitely not take my kids to the parts of the Strip that these peddlers are on."
Hate to tell her, but handbillers are nearly everywhere on the Strip, although congestion is worse in spots.
Finding a balancing act between the First Amendment and pesky handbillers won't be resolved in 90 days.
It's going to take that long just for a $581,000 county study to identify congested areas and document them, in anticipation of a court challenge. Guess that's not something four Strip bike patrol officers could do on the back of a napkin.
Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison.