Police Cite 14 Downtown Businesses for Alleged Violations of City's Massage Ordinance

During a semi-regular check of businesses marketing massage services, Walnut Creek police patrol officers found 14 that were in violation of a two-year-old ordinance designed to cut down on prostitution operations masquerading as legitimate massage therapy studios.

The 14 businesses police visited were generally cited for either having technicians working on the premises who did not have permits or for not keeping their paperwork in order, according to Lt. Mark Covington.

The visited businesses had permits with the city, and Covington says officers found no evidence, during their check Saturday afternoon and evening, of illicit sex operations or of human trafficking. Officers issued citations to the businesses they visited. He added that this operation didn't involve any kind of undercover work and that no events or complaints prompted Saturday's compliance checks.

In the years before Walnut Creek adopted its massage parlor ordinance in 2008, the town was becoming known as a hotbed for prostitution.

Then, as now, prostitutes were marketing their services in online ads on Craigslist and erotic services sites. According to a report in Diablo magazine, these purveyors of sex in Walnut Creek and nearby suburbs can range from independent high-priced prostitutes advertising "in call" in hotel rooms and apartments to strip-mall and downtown storefronts disguised as massage-therapy studios.

One of the primary concerns about certain massage parlors, among law enforcement and human rights advocates, is that they are staffed by women who have recently come to the United States, usually from Asia, and who may have been smuggled here and forced into sex work to pay off debts to crime gangs.

At the time Walnut Creek adopted its ordinance, the city was lagging behind other Contra Costa cities in passing laws to prevent illicit sex operations from opening up in town. All surrounding cities had ordinances in place.

The Walnut Creek ordinance basically requires applicants for a massage license to prove they have a certain level of training in massage therapy and have not been convicted within the past 10 years of crimes such as solicitation, assault, fraud, or sex offenses. The operator of a massage business must receive zoning approval, undergo building and health inspections, and be able to provide certificates for their staff, showing they are trained in massage therapy. Massage studio operators who lease space in buildings must also show proof that the building's owner is aware of the kind of business they are operating. 

The businesses visited Saturday have addresses in and around the downtown core area, including on Locust Street, Olympic Boulevard, Newell Avenue and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Others are located off North Main Street and Ygnacio Valley Road.