'Problem' massage parlour closed by community safety order

A massage parlour in the southeast community of Doverhas been shut down because oflinks to prostitution, say Calgary police.

Police went to court to get a 30-day closure order against Paradise Spa at 3155 34th Avenue S.E., which takes effect Monday.

The community safety order (CSO) also prevents the owner of the property from leasing the space to any massage business for a yearafter the closure period expires.

The property has beenthe source of many complaints by local residents.

"This particular location has been on our radar for 12 years," said StaffSgt.Robert Rutledge.

The Calgary Police Service worked with the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Unit (SCAN) of the Alberta Law Enforcement Teams (ALERT) on the investigation.

"It amazed me how many people knew this was going on," said SCANinvestigator Glenn Stuart. "It wasn't a secret they all knewbut nobody knewhow they could make it go away."

SCAN received a complaint nearly a year ago. One employee was charged and the was business closed for a few weeks, but authoritiessay it reopened and continued to offer sexual services.

"In the past they would just change their names get new employees and business as usual, in this particular instance being closed down brings a lot of satisfaction," saidRutledge.

He says the move is not only being celebrated byCalgary police,but bythe community as well.

100 feet from daycare

If you can imagine, there was a business operating as a daycare 100 feet from this massage parlour where prostitution was taking place, said Stuart.

This is the first CSO granted in Alberta, and likely Canada, addressing the ongoing problem of businesses registered as massage parlours performing acts of prostitution.

Alberta Health Services hasalso been involved because of concerns of transferring sexually transmitted diseases inside the parlour and the presence of used condoms in the trash outside of the building.

SCAN believes thereare about 150 such massage parlours operating in Calgary.

"Sometimes Dover and Forest Lawn and communities like that get a bit of a bad rap. And I'll tell you, we do a lot of work in these communities. But there are a lot of good people who live in these communities and they don't deserve to have to live with this," said Stuart.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, says it's difficult to shut down prostitution operations.

"The door shuts and the transaction takes place in private between the individual and the person who is looking to provide the sexual services," he said.

"That's the hard part to monitor and to regulate so it is a very difficult criminal thing to look into."

Policeare hoping this closure will send a warning to people who run illegal massage parlours.

"We are targeting them and they better clean up their business habits," said Rutledge.