The Gainesville Police Department conducts prostitution stings, about once a month, but solving the problem is complex and is complicated by variables as unusual as road construction.

On Wednesday, four people were locked up after a prostitution sting around southeast and southwest 5th and 6th avenues in downtown Gainesville.

"I had the windows down, there was not much dialogue, she actually got into the car without even being asked," said Officer Billy Long.

Lisa Barlow, 44, offered an undercover officer oral sex for eight dollars.

"There are enhanced penalties if you have more than 3 convictions of prostitution, it turns it from a misdemeanor charge into a felony charge," said Spencer Mann, spokesperson for the State Attorney's Office.

The state law has gotten some prostitutes off the streets, he said.

In 2005, Barlow spent a year in prison for prostitution.

"Warehousing people at tax payers dollars isn't necessarily the answer to this issue" said Mann.

Barlow just keeps going back to jail. Court records show that, going back to 1985, she has been arrested for prostitution and other charges more than one hundred times.

Mann says the solution isn't easy.

"It's such an obstacle because obviously there must be such a demand by citizens out there that are seeking to procure prostitution, if people didn't seek it, there wouldn't be people out there selling it," he said.