MEN who seek the services of prostitutes in Limerick have been warned that gardai will be running undercover operations to enforce the law.
Chief Superintendent Dave Sheehan, told The Limerick Post that Operation Freewheel, successful in late 2011, will be revived and stepped up after complaints from retailers and city residents that prostitutes are now operating in new areas of the city.
He said that the Limerick Garda division will be running the undercover operation where decoy gardai, posing as prostitutes, will be enforcing the laws relating to soliciting or importuning for the purposes of prostitution.
When Operation Freewheel was introduced last year, 27 men were caught soliciting three undercover gardai attached to Roxboro Garda Station. Prostitution declined somewhat but local residents and businesses owners have aired their concerns to the gardai in recent weeks.
Senior gardai say that prostitutes have moved from one place to another and they fully intend targeting them and those who seek their services.
Six of the 27 men caught during last year’s operation challenged their charges on the basis of entrapment but this was rejected by Judge Eugene O’Kelly who said that the “gardai were entitled to stand on the street for whatever operation they wished without being approached and questioned about sex”.
He said that prostitution was “the scourge of Limerick city streets and the gardai are under significant pressure to eradicate the matter.”
This was endorsed by Chief Supt. Sheehan in agreeing with Judge O’Kelly’s comments that tackling prostitution was of utmost importance as “the good citizens and businesses in Limerick should not have to deal with this at their door”.
