St. Cloud’s Health and Inspection Department Receives National Recognition for Cracking Down on Prostitution

(KNSI) — St. Cloud’s Health and Inspection Department is getting national recognition for helping crackdown on prostitution.

The department received the ICC Community Service Award during the International Code Council’s conference in St. Louis. Health Director Matt O’Brien says it was “definitely an overwhelming experience. Going out there and just seeing the mountain of people supporting our program. It was just great to talk to people and share our experiences, share our programs, and the great things we do in St. Cloud.”

O’Brien spoke exclusively to KNSI News immediately following Monday’s city council meeting. He says their massage parlor inspection program is at the forefront of a collaborative effort with law enforcement to take down the operators. “We’ve worked with the Human Trafficking Task Force to try and pick out the bad operators and have since moved to two other cities in the area.”

He says since 2018, they’ve helped close dozens of illegal operations locally and have expanded to Rochester and Fargo. St. Cloud is also involved with developing a state statute to regulate massage facilities.

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