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CASSELBERRY, Florida- from www.orlandosentinel.com - Thomas Chmielewski was walking past Rachel's, an upscale adult nightclub here, when a robber with a sledgehammer jumped from the bushes and began beating him.
Chmielewski, a hotel-security guard, was left bloody from a blow to the head and suffered a broken wrist. He is now suing the club, saying it failed to provide adequate security.
What happened to the 46-year-old Chmielewski on July 9 helps fuel complaints by opponents of adult entertainment. Those businesses, they allege, are a magnet for crime.
Fourteen years ago, Casselberry and Seminole County began a long, painful and expensive crackdown on adult businesses on U.S. Highway 17-92 near State Road 436. Back then, seven adult nightclubs lined the strip or had settled just around the corner. Now just two remain.
Has crime in the area fallen?
Yes, by 37 percent, according to data from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. But that's only marginally higher than the 35 percent drop countywide for the same period.
"I think it is a lot safer. I think everyone realizes that," said Susan Doerner, a Casselberry city commissioner who got involved in 1997, upset by the proliferation of adult clubs.
Crime data from the city of Casselberry indicate that Rachel's — the city's only adult club — though not a haven for crime, does generate more police incident reports than other bars.
From 2006 to 2010, Casselberry police were called to Rachel's more than 600 times. Officers wound up writing incident reports only 35 of those times. But that's twice the number of reports officers wrote at Hooters, a hot-pants-and-hot-wings sports bar 1 1/2 miles away on S.R. 436.
There are more crimes reported at Rachel's, said Brandon Clark, its daytime manager, because it has more customers.
As for Chmielewski's suit alleging the club should have had bouncers, doormen or parking-lot attendants to prevent his robbery and beating: "I have no comment on that," Clark said.
Do adult businesses bring crime?
Courts have ruled that erotic dancing is a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. Local governments, though, have the right to regulate adult businesses if they can show harm to a community.
Local and county governments commonly make that claim and cite studies done in Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix and elsewhere that show increased crime in neighborhoods with adult businesses.
