The Legal Aid Society stands with sex work advocates across the city following New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement to convene a task force that will address problems exposed by a ProPublica investigation into how the NYPD polices the sex trade through its vice unit, including allegations of widespread racial discrimination.

Legal Aid attorneys who represent people arrested for selling sex said the administration’s proposals are vague and don’t go far enough to address systemic misconduct issues.

“It’s progress in the sense that they’re identifying important issues that need to be addressed,” said Leigh Latimer, Supervising Attorney of the Exploitation Intervention Project at The Legal Aid Society. “But it feels like planning to make a plan. I wish there were actual actions being contemplated.”