NCJ Number
82051
Date Published
1980
Length
46 pages
Annotation
The Minneapolis local governmental decisionmaking process is examined in relation to the dramatic emergence and resolution of Minneapolis' public debate on strategies for dealing with vice in the city in the 1970's.
Abstract
For over 75 years, prostitution had not been a major Minneapolis policymaking issue, until the early 1970's. Between 1972 and 1979, controlling illicit sexual activities, particularly prostitution and pornography, became one of the most controversial, sensational, and scandalous issues to be publicly debated in recent Minneapolis history. The primary factors responsible for the emergence of sexual vice as an issue were the changing nature of the problem (prostitutes were becoming increasingly white and in their teens and pornography outlets were becoming more visible to the public), the aggressive role of the mass media and the police department in publicizing the problem, the intensified politicization of the issue in mayoral election campaigns, and the increased activism of certain special interest groups. Governmental and public attention of the problem finally subsided with little impact having been made on the problem. Illicit sexual activities and entertainment continue, and the public has turned its attention to other matters. The nature of the offenses involved (no complainants and few willing witnesses) makes it difficult if not impossible to conduct cost-effective law enforcement. Most of the strategies proposed were law enforcement-oriented, and many suggestions involved threats to constitutional rights, which polarized opposition by civil liberties and women's groups. Further, the decentralized nature of the policymaking process precluded rational policymaking and implementation. Forty-five footnotes and seven bibliographic listings are provided.