The undercover NYPD vice cops accused of improperly targeting gay men during 2008’s porn shop prostitution sting were cleared of any wrong doing by an Internal Affairs Bureau investigation that began last February. That’s bad news for Robert Pinter, one of the men arrested who filed suit against the department, claiming the charges were just a way for the cops to rack up enough nuisance charges against the shops to shut them down.
Nevermind that many of the 30 men arrested in the sting say they were cuffed only after agreeing to consensual sex with the undercover cops — whom then offered to make it a cash transaction.
Shockingly, the IAB investigation found the NYPD’s legal unit “recommends the suggestion of money come from the defendant. There are no department standards regarding entrapment. The Department prefers to avoid entrapment but it is not a set policy.” You mean, there’s no policy to, say, avoid completely illegal means of “law enforcement”?
EARLIER:
The NYPD Just Scored a Deal To Keep Its Faux Prostitution Sting a Secret
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Kevin, New Jersey
People should know what prostitution is and that it is illegal. For example:
Cute guy: “Hi! Wanna have sex?”
Me: “Yeah, sure.”
Not prostitution.
Another example:
Cute guy: “Hi! Wanna have sex?”
Me: “Yeah, sure.”
Cute guy: “Uhh, wanna give me $100 for sex?”
Me: “No, that’s prostitution.”
See how easy that was?
scott ny'er
i feel most cops are corrupt. Unfortunately, the best way around that is to avoid such areas of entrapment, and limit your freedoms.
ForeverGay
And gay activists won’t say a word about this or they will make it look like it’s totally random when in fact it’s always by haterosexuals. Haterosexual police are not out there with women exposing themselves to catch haterosexual males. This is about haterosexuals trying to criminalize gay sex and boosting their self esteem that they brought down “pathetic, lowly” gay men. These sex entrapments are always bigoted and illegitimate.
southapugh
Porn shop Undercover cutie: “Wanna have sex?”
Enticed shopper: “Sure!”
Porn shop Undercover cutie: “Gimme $100 for sex?”
Wary shopper: “Are you a cop?”
Chagrined Undercover slimeball: “Yes.”
Wise American Citizen; “Ah ha!”
They have to identify themselves. It’s the law. And, it’s a good law.
Kevin_BGFH
@Kevin, New Jersey: But it’s my understanding that the cops were not posing as prostitutes. They were posing ass johns. The conversation was more like:
Cute guy: “Hi! Wanna have sex?”
Me: “Yeah, sure.”
Cute guy: “Uhh, can I pay you $100?”
Me: ???
(And believe me, if someone offered to pay me money, I would think that was really weird and suspicious — especially if we had already agreed to consensual sex.)
But @southapugh is correct, from what I’ve heard — they cannot lie in the course of a sting operation. For example, in California if someone underage is participating in a sting to buy alcohol underage, they have to furnish a legal ID and must honestly tell the truth if they are asked their age. Although … I’m not sure that’s universally true because I’ve heard of wired sting operations for big time drug dealers, etc., where the informant said they were not a cop. (Perhaps they weren’t, perhaps they were a non-agent assisting the cops.)
YCKTR
You don’t REALLY believe that wives tale that cops have to tell the truth, do you? There are no laws/policies/procedures at the local/state/federal level that force the police to identify themselves simply because you asked. Think about it logically – An undercover is in a room with high profile drug dealers and, as is ALWAYS the case, the drug dealer’s tactical people (ie. the ones with the guns and a history of violence). Do you think the undercover is going to risk his life because someone asks him “are you a cop”? Not a chance…and there’s no way in hell anyone would propose a law suggesting that he do so.
James UK
Puts me in mind of a song by Tom Robinson called “Glad to be gay”.
This song was originally written by Tom Robinson for the London Gay Pride march in 1976. It was released in 1978 as one of a four tracks EP called “Rising Free”. BBC Radio 1 refused to play this song and instead played the less controversial opening track “Don’t Take No For An Answer”.
Lyrics
“The British Police are the best in the world
I don’t believe one of these stories I’ve heard
‘Bout them raiding our pubs for no reason at all
Lining the customers up by the wall
Picking out people and knocking them down
Resisting arrest as they’re kicked on the ground
Searching their houses and calling them queer
I don’t believe that sort of thing happens here
Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way
Pictures of naked young women are fun
In Titbits and Playboy, page three of The Sun
There’s no nudes in Gay News our last magazine
But they still find excuses to call it obscene
Read how disgusting we are in the press
The News of The World and the Sunday Express
Molesters of children, corruptors of youth
It’s there in the paper, it must be the truth
Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way
Don’t try to kid us that if you’re discreet
You’re perfectly safe as you walk down the street
You don’t have to mince or make bitchy remarks
To get beaten unconscious and left in the dark
I had a friend who was gentle and short
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth
He was only hospitalised for a week
Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way
So sit back and watch as they close all our clubs
Arrest us for meeting and raid all our pubs
Make sure your boyfriend’s at least 21
So only your friends and your brothers get done
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes
Gay Lib’s ridiculous, join their laughter
‘The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?’
Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy this way”
Plus ca change…?
B
No. 5 · Kevin_BGFH wrote ….
@Kevin, New Jersey: But it’s my understanding that the cops were not posing as prostitutes. They were posing ass johns. The conversation was more like:
Cute guy: “Hi! Wanna have sex?”
Me: “Yeah, sure.”
Cute guy: “Uhh, can I pay you $100?”
Me: ???
… according to the reports, your “???” was rendered as complete silence, and an arrest was made anyway. Silence should not be taken as an agreement to pay a fee – maybe the person thought “no way” and was simply going to leave without saying anything.
PopSnap
I think that prostitution should be legalized- that’s the main issue here. Just look at Reno. The prostitutes there are healthy, well-fed, stay out of drugs, and don’t have to deal with violent and abusive pimps/johns because they are legally protected from them.
Am I defending/supporting prostitution? No. But it’s something that has happened since the beginning of time and will continue to happen as long as humans desire sex (always).
Daez
@southapugh: No they don’t. An undercover police officer is under no obligation to inform you that they are an undercover police officer. There will never be a law that causes that to happen. Doing that in many cases of undercover work would be suicide. I personally don’t like cops either, but what I like less than cops is gay men that need to cruise porn shops because they don’t have the balls to go meet other gay people anywhere else and have actual relationships.
IonMusic
@Daez: BUT you’re an ignorant, homophobic fool who is misinformed of this story then….and cruising stories in general. Cruising is what STRAIGHT, homophoic cops are doing across the country. They target gay men, ask them to have sex, and in this case…when the gay men don’t respond, they get arrested anyways. Half the gay men arrested in these shops did NOT say “yes” when asked by the udner cover cop if they want to have sex. They were arrested because these corrupt, no good, failure at life cops were out on a mission…one fueled by bigotry, and considering you are siding with them with out knowing the facts of these incidents…you were most likely brain washed to believe a stereotype of gay men in your child hood, and carry it now in your adult hood. Your disdain and false thinking of gays only hurts YOU as a gay man. Siding with bigoted hetros does not make you any less of a “vile f*g” in their minds. It just makes you delusional and self hating.