‘John of the month’: Gee looks to take city’s new sex trafficking deterrent a step further

Seattle officials are sending out “John Letters” to drivers accused of engaging in sex trafficking on Aurora Avenue, KIRO 7 reported. The letters warn of legal action if their participation continues.

While KIRO host Ursula Reutin noted the letters could potentially be sent to people’s workplaces, KIRO host Gee Scott thinks that’s taking it too far, but would rather have the cars posted in the newspaper.

“Sending it to your job —I think that’s a bit too far. However, if you guys want to do, like back in Craigslist days, like if we missed each other, or help want it, and all that kind of stuff, just do something in The Seattle Times and put a section, post these cars right there so we can all see it,” Gee shared on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “I’d like that better than posting it and sending it to your job.”

“Whoa, wait, what — you want the ‘Dear John’ letter posted in the classifieds?” Ursula questioned.

“Oh yeah, have a link that we could go to so we can see all the people,” Gee replied.

“You think it’s going too far to go to the workplace, but you would put it out there for even more people to see than just your workplace?” Ursula asked again.

“Yeah,” Gee responded.

‘John Letters’ to ‘John of the month’?

His idea, instead of displaying a “student of the month,” is to have a “John of the month.”

“So every November 1, or every first of the month, we have a time where we talk about the ‘John of the month.’ Hey, this week’s ‘John of the month’ is Billy. Oh, Billy looks like he works at Boeing. And then, you know, we talk about it,” Gee quipped.

So far this month, the city has sent out at least 21 letters to drivers.

Seattle Police Department (SPD) Detective Maurice Washington explained that sex trafficking relies on demand.

“It’s a billion-dollar industry, it’s a $56 billion industry in the U.S. alone,” Washington told KIRO 7.

Ursula agreed that action needs to be taken.

“I think it is an awful problem. I think that there are these young girls who are being taken advantage of on Aurora. And it’s just sickening,” she said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.