Local Stupid Shit

Isn't it nice when the local Sheriff's office has been letting its detectives, who are single of course, partake in the very thing they are trying to eradicate?

That would be the Spotsylvania County's Sheriff's Department who, upon trying to crack down on a prostitution ring fronting as a massage parlor, allowed it's single (read: not married) detective's to solicit and then participate in "sexual misconduct" with the very women they were attempting to prove guilty.

The reason, given by Spotsylvania Sheriff Howard D. Smith?

Most prostitutes are careful not to say anything incriminating, so sexual contact is necessary, he said.

Ahh, yes, because the women suddenly stripped off the undercover detective's pants and started giving him a blowjob without asking or requesting money first. Right. Or, better yet, the cops were laying there, enjoying their foot rub, when amazingly, strange tongues start licking them all over. Last time I checked, money had to be exchanged first and an actual conversation took place to determine what services were being requested, if any.

"If I thought we could get the conviction without that, we wouldn't allow it," Smith said. "If you want to make them, this has to be done."

From what I understand, this excuse would not hold up in say, a drug bust. Wouldn't it be considered abusive if an undercover cop started sampling heroin, coke or crack after a deal to make sure the runner wasn't lying? After all, it's not like dealers/runners are out on street corners wearing a placard that reads, "I've got crack in my pocket! You can get crack right here for $25 a rock!"

But numerous police and legal experts said they were not aware of any law enforcement agency in the Washington region, or the country, that allows sexual contact in prostitution investigations. Police should not break the law to enforce it, they said.

Wanna see a direct contradiction and proof that indeed this has happened in the Washington region and the nation? Why, it's in the very next paragraph:

Similar investigations by police in the Maryland suburbs in recent years have not ended well. In 1995, police in Howard County allowed detectives to receive sexual services from masseuses. But prosecutors later dismissed the charges against nearly all of those arrested rather than expose the investigation's tactics in open court. Five years ago, Montgomery County police sent informers into massage parlors to have sex with women there. Prosecutors told police to stop the practice, which they did, and dismissed charges against the women.

But I thought it hadn't been done anywhere else? And if it can happen here where corruption isn't necessarily the name of the game for our little Virginia police force, it can definitely happen in the much larger cities, such as L.A., Detroit or NYC where corruption of law enforcement is high.

Smith said most "professionals" know better than to name an explicit act and a price. And with the Asian-run parlors that have periodically sprung up in Spotsylvania, he said, "they don't speak much English. There's not a lot of conversation."

This made me laugh. So they can't speak much English which excuses the detectives for having to go "all the way?" I'm not buying it. Again, from what I understand, a conversation generally takes place up front to ensure payment of services once they've been performed. Even non-English speaking persons find a way to get their point across and since the cops would be there looking for specific signs of prostitution, it shouldn't have been hard.

What everyone is screaming about is that taxpayer money was used so these detectives could get their jollies off on the county's dime. I don't live in Spotsy, but I do live right next door. If it were the Sheriff's office where I currently pay taxes participating in something like this (hell, let's face it, it's the simple fact that the Sheriff thought this was an okay way to go about busting prostitution rings that's bothersome), you can bet I'd be pissed to.

Nevermind that it's cops, sworn to uphold the law, who are taking advantage of an already impoverished group of women.