Oakland Johns To Get Public Outing
 

Johns in Oakland are in for a special treat in the near future, undesired fame and attention.

Buy sex from a hooker in Oakland, and you may lose your car and see your picture plastered on a billboard or bus shelter.

That's the warning city and police officials sounded Thursday as they initiated a new "shaming campaign" to crack down on prostitution in the city's Fruitvale district.

The program will include surveillance cameras erected by merchants along busy International Boulevard, where residents say the blatant prostitution trade has hurt business. Videotapes of those soliciting prostitutes will be handed over to Oakland police and Alameda County prosecutors.

Customers -- known as johns -- convicted of soliciting prostitution could see their visages featured prominently on billboards and at bus stops, officials said at a news conference at a park at 35th Avenue and International Boulevard.

"You will be shamed," said Mario Juarez, 27, who owns Fireside Realty and Mortgage on International Boulevard where a camera will be installed. "We are open for business, and we are closed to criminals."

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