Sting Operations

I, for one, think that sting operations set up by police departments for the purpose of trapping prostitutes are a monumental waste of time.

Oh, but they're doing a good service, the police will claim. We're catching prostitutes! We're luring them to motels and videotaping it, and then sending said tapes to the evening news for the purpose of entertainment!

Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.

In today's day and age, there are much scarier things than prostitutes meeting a client at an off-highway motel. For instance, there are terrorists, bankers who gamble with our 401(k) savings, and even a certain (former) politician from Alaska who refuses to go away.

But no -- the prostitutes are out there, and they need to be stopped.

Pray tell, why is that the police never seem to humiliate the John who beats and rapes an underage girl? Where's his judgment day? Why is his face never plastered on the evening news? Is it because unlike the girls trapped in these sting operations, he's actually committed a crime and is deemed innocent until proven guilty?

Let's not forget: soliciting sex isn't the same as actually having sex for money. These girls didn't really get "caught" having sex for money -- only offering it to an undercover police officer. So if they haven't really done anything, why is it they're allowed to be shown on the evening news?

This is fucked up, people. I'm tired of seeing girls who obviously aren't at the high-end of the business paraded around like some sort of sideshow for the puritanical masses. And as for the cops, well, they're mostly a bunch of fat, middle-aged buffoons who wouldn't know how to solve a real crime if it grew a pair a teeth and bit them right in the ass.

How does this make the world safer? How does jailing a girl who needs the funds form prostitution improve her situation? Why does this whole scenario reek of patriarchal tyranny?

Your thoughts are welcome at JulianKaye@hushmail.com. For the record, inspiration for this post was a piece on the evening news that was, by far, the biggest piece of journalistic trash I have seen in years. The reason why the police did it is even worse: they needed the PR after a very, very big screw up the previous year.

Girls, keep your heads high -- even if you get caught. You're earning a living, paying your bills, staying off public assistance and keeping your house in order. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Don't ever forget that!