Tuesday, January 10, 2006

A hooker by any other name....

Just came across this on the Boston Police Department blog (Yes, they have a blog. It's actually quite handy, we use it at the station sometimes):

New Jersey Women Arrested as Common Night Walker in South End

Police Officers assigned to District 4 in the South End arrested 21 year-old XXX XXXXX of Port Monmouth, New Jersey as a Common Night Walker early this morning. The Officers arrested XXXX at the intersection of Berkley Street and Appleton Street around 0145hrs after observing her for the third time in various locations in the South End where complaints of prostitution have been identified.


Apparently here in the capital city we refer to a hooker as a "Common Night Walker"
1. "Common Night Walker" sounds like some kind of bird -Tom and Sally spotted three Common Night Walkers with unusual plumage on their way to the T.

2. What do we call a hooker out working the corner before dusk- a "Common Day Walker"?





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, wait until they post their first item about somebody being arrested for "uttering."

Although I think my favorite item on the site has to be the one about the pimp who lost his marbles.

Anonymous said...

Common night walker actually has a long history, dating back to colonial times, when they really would arrest anyone who was found "abroad at night without explanation or purpose." These days, it means "attempting to solicit others to engage in illicit sexual acts" (at night, of course). Police use it when they don't have enough evidence of actual solicitation (as opposed to attempted solicitation) or the actual exchange of sex for a fee. Mass. courts have periodically chided local police departments for unconstitutionally focusing their enforcement efforts on women, but they've refused to rule that the law itself is unconstitutional. Still, as a matter of everyday practice, prostitutes (not johns) continue to make up the majority of charged common night walkers.

Lyss said...

Thanks for the info...I imagined it was something like that... It still sounds funny.

-Ann said...

I like your impression of it being a bird name. My dad enjoys a good bird name and is usually inspired to then make up "bird names" of his own. The best was when he looked at their cat and called him a Ring-Tailed Tuna Muncher.