Last week’s article “Behind closed doors,” an investigation of prostitution in Madison and the effectiveness of new efforts to police the problem, reported that the University of Wisconsin Police Department has made arrests for prostitution on campus. Statistics obtained today from the UWPD indicate that officers have made six arrests related to prostitution, all of which occurred in the UW Arboretum parking lot. The first arrest occurred in 2002, with another arrest in 2006, three in 2007 and one so far this year.
More striking than these arrests, which Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer attributed to johns who typically pick up prostitutes at other locations and bring them to the arboretum for sex, is a former prostitute’s allegation that she has turned tricks in UW dormitories and at fraternity functions.