Undercover SA Police officers target hotel-based sex workers, leading to 20-fold increase in prostitution charges

Police officers disguised as sex customers have laid 20 times more prostitution charges in the past year – but an MP pushing for decriminalisation has questioned their priorities.

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Undercover police posing as prostitution clients helped drive a 20-fold increase in charges but has raised questions about police priorities and what consenting adults do in their own time.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens confirmed prostitution charges had risen from 11 to 211 in a single year, as SAPOL targeted women working from hotel rooms.

A state parliament committee was told there was a growing problem with hotel workers but that after the crackdown: “The predominantly Asian situation is no longer present at the moment”.

But Greens MLC Tammy Franks disputed the characterisation as Asian, saying she had documents showing surnames with a range of ethnic backgrounds, and questioned the use of resources.

She called on SAPOL to work on crimes other than those involving consenting adults.

She questioned the help given to women arrested on a Friday but not taken to court until the following Monday.

Greens MLC Tammy Franks questioned the use of police resources.

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said prostitution charges had risen from 11 to 211 in a year.

“It really is a misdirection of priorities,” Ms Franks said outside of the committee hearing.

“This is being done at the expense of things like domestic violence and what most people would consider really is crime.”

The committee was told undercover officers did not reveal their true identities until there was evidence of a crime.

Mr Stevens also told the committee the new rapid response unit would cost $2 million a year and officers would be drawn from a variety of roles, including general duties.

He said he came up the plan based on interstate and overseas responses to urgent situations, rather than any local increased terror threat.

The unit will have 48 officers, specially trained to respond swiftly to challenging situations.

While noting SA crime rates were falling and SA had the most police per capita in the nation, Mr Stevens also bluntly batted away suggestions police traffic officers have quotas of speeding fines.

“There are no quotas for issuing fines,” he said. “We don’t have quotas or targets for fines,”

Mr Stevens went on to qualify this by saying there were budget and revenue targets SAPOL needed to achieve.