WEST ALLIS — West Allis police shut down a massage parlor over the weekend that was long suspected of being a hotbed of prostitution. Police had to wait years to close the business because of a flaw in state law.
Up until last November, police could make all the arrests they wanted in cases like this. Closing the business down involved state investigators and could drag on for months, or in this case, since 2017. West Allis pushed for a new state law that allows them to shut a business down much faster.
As of last weekend, Asian Massage on S. 92nd street is no longer allowed to do business in West Allis after a five-month investigation netted three arrests for prostitution including the manager.
"I mean if you've got common sense you know," said West Allis resident Scott Belanger.
Belanger has had suspicions of the Asian Massage's services since it opened just a few years ago.
"There's never no women going in there, never, and it's supposed to be a manicure massage place, no women in there at all," said Belanger.
This isn't a first for Asian Massage. In 2017, West Allis police arrested four employees for prostitution. When city leaders realized they couldn't shut it down then, they got state lawmakers involved. including Joe Sanfelippo of New Berlin.
"All they could do is report to the state that there was some type of problem and then the state has to do all of the licensing checks for the entire state, obviously, and it would take 6 months to over a year sometimes and then in the meantime, these illegitimate businesses just continued to operate," Sanfelippo said.
As Sanfelippo explains, police departments felt their hands were tied in addressing sex trafficking. He authored legislation that allows cities, towns, and villages to create their ordinances outlining what is illegal at massage parlors. It received bipartisan support and Gov. Evers signed it into law in November.
"What we did is give local police departments more authority to be able to go in once the ordinance is on the city books, to be able to go in and take action to shut the business down immediately," Sanfelippo said.
- Human Trafficking Hotline
- Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking
- Exploit No More
- UMOS: Wisconsin Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Project
Sanfelippo said several local communities including West Allis, Wauwatosa, New Berlin, and Waukesha have created these new ordinances. He believes it's just a matter of time before another massage parlor is shut down for prostitution.
If you or anyone you know is a victim of human trafficking, contact local law enforcement or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.
