From the recent chatter on the board; seems they are coming down on the D clubs – hopefully the suburbs will escape.
From a recent review of Club Venus in Detroit:
“… Visitors beware. Venus has become the new Detroit Police hang out spot. From what I have heard, busts have slowed down during this past month, but July was a whole different story. So if you have not been in awhile, chances are, your favorite girl has left as they have not been making any money. Every club goes through their ups and downs, and this is currently Venus' down. I pretty much walked in, saw another guy near the ATM, went to the bathroom and walked right back out. The girls are no longer as touchy as they used to be due to the recent raids. Once again, visitors beware. …â€
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last commentThe occasional raid might make things cool down for a while, but sooner than later, it is business as usual. Detroit is broke, and the city's strip clubs bring in a good chunk of income via sales tax and licensing fees.
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sinclair: "Detroit is broke, and the city's strip clubs bring in a good chunk of income via sales tax and licensing fees."
That's an interesting claim. What % of total municipal/state revenue we talking?
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"The occasional raid might make things cool down for a while, but sooner than later, it is business as usual."
Maybe...but keep in mind there are MANY cities where crackdowns like this have lasted many, many years...or forever.
Anyone remember Seattle? And Phoenix went thru a VERY long dry spell. New York used to be mileage capital, and now? Nothing. The list is very long.
Once the community groups get a stick up their butt and find out they can make things happen, it becomes their goal in life.
Maybe this is just a short term political muscle flexing, but don't be surprised if it hangs for a very long time. Let's hope....
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33% of course
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Were there crackdowns like this in the past in Detroit?
Maybe the people in charge now that are trying to “fix†Detroit may want to give it a complete makeover and not let it be known for its SCs?
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33% of crackdowns happen 33% of the time. Of course, they're only reported 33% of the time.
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33% of all statistics are made up
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Regarding the comments above of how much sales tax and license fees SC's bring to DET. It could be a larger number than you think, because TUSCLer's from all over the country go there, rent motel rooms, eat meals and purchase gasoline. All secondary sources. Comes under the heading of Economic Development, and unless the SC's are chasing other businesses away it's a (good) revenue generator.
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Anything's possible.
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Raids in Detroit are infrequent and thus the risk of a customer being involved in a raid is quite low. Furthermore, most of the raids seem to focus on checking for dance cards, outstanding warrants and drugs rather than focusing on the customers. It almost feels like the raids are designed to send a message to the club owners rather close down one of the more successful sectors of the Detroit economy.
That said, the raids are a terrible waste of police resources and abuse of police power (ski masks, really?). I wonder if we'll ever see a U.S. city (something bigger and more accessible than a cross road in the Nevada desert) that is gutsy enough to legalize and regulate prostitution? It would be an interesting experiment in economic development.
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The new mayor of Detroit wants to prove to the public that he is "cracking down", so Vice is raiding clubs twice a year now. I worked at the newly opened Scores on 8 Mile and spoke with the head of vice and he said some clubs will get three visits per year. A dancer's first ticket is basically just a $200 fine/warning and charges are dropped (speaking from experience). A second ticket means the charge will stick though. Patrons and customers are ticketed for touching customers (again, from experience). Vice squad calls them "inspections" to make sure we have our cabaret licenses and there are no warrants out for any of the staff. Other than this, it's just a way to make more money from us.
I do see how they would visit Venus more frequently though given that it's basically an open brothel that happens to have poles. I've said before though that most clubs do have "raid lights" in their vip area. Dancers usually don't know about them or where they are, but all of the clubs I've worked at have them (I always ask).
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Another reason to put Tujuana on my vacation list.
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