Trigger warning: sexual abuse, judicial sexual assault

Don’t read this if it’s first thing in the morning where you are. You don’t want to throw up in your mouth before you’ve had a chance to relax and drink a bit of coffee or something to buffer the rage.

There’s a stereotype of a cop, sitting in their car with coffee and donuts. I remember one of Baltimore City’s Most Corrupt who used to get to my favorite bagel place around the same time I did: he’d walk in and his ‘usual’ was always ready, he’d pick it up, make a gesture for his wallet, “oh, no!” they’d wave him off, and he’d saunter back to his car (usually parked right out front blocking traffic) and drive off. The stereotypical cop on the take has been with us for a long time, because – sadly – the stereotype is a pretty fair one and many many cop departments don’t do enough to fight it.

A couple weeks ago, Michigan passed a law that strips immunity from cops that penetrate prostitutes during the course of an investigation. [michigan legislature] Did you know that’s even a thing? Apparently up until now, Officer Pork has been able to get his dick wet to make sure he’s dealing with a prostitute – you know – you’ve got to be sure before you whip the cuffs out and say “you’re busted.”

Bridgette Carr, a clinical professor and director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at University of Michigan Law School, has been asking lawmakers to change the law, outlaw actual penetration and bring Michigan in line with the 49 other states.

Carr told MLive in March that the current law “gives too much power to people who could exploit vulnerable individuals,” including human trafficking victims. [mlive]

Sounds good, right? Right. As usual, with these sorts of stories, it’s the tip of a great big flag-wrapped blue shitberg. Because they’re just catching up on the question of penetration. You see, Officer Pork expects to have his fun otherwise. Maybe a handjob or some groping? Sure, gotta make sure prostitution’s happening.

Alaska is presently debating whether a cop can get to 2nd base or 3rd or what, exactly:

There’s a heated debate going on right now in Alaska between the police department and sex workers’ rights advocates over a bill that would make it illegal for police officers to have sexual contact with sex workers before arresting them. If Alaska passes this bill, they’ll become the first state to outlaw any sexual contact between police and the people they’re investigating. [glamour]

No shit?

“It’s incredibly traumatic to be tricked into having sex with someone who stops in the middle and puts you in handcuffs and takes you against your will to be locked up in a jail cell,” explained Terra Burns, one of the founders of Community United for Safety and Protection (CUSP), a group of current and former sex workers, sex trafficking victims, and allies working towards safety and protection for everyone in Alaska’s sex trade. “Women have told me that years later they still have PTSD symptoms when they see a police car.”

But police in Alaska say that if they can’t touch sex workers at all, they have no chance of conducting successful undercover investigations. The problem with the bill, Alaska cops explain, is that their covers will be too easily blown by savvy sex workers who know what officers are and are not allowed to do, and employ a tactic called “cop checking” to sniff them out.

Yes, see, what happens is co-evolution. The sex workers look at the law and figure out what the cops are allowed to do, then ask a prospective customer to do something cops aren’t allowed to do. It’s the exact same thing as all those scenes in bad movies where one of the criminals gives the undercover cop a gun and tells them to murder a prisoner.

This is another example of how America’s corrupt justice system enforces class and race boundaries. Nobody’s asking if there’s a financial quid pro quo when Donald Trump imports a new immigrant wife but instead let’s preserve a system that enshrines judicial sexual assault under cover of protecting the public’s morals.

“Now that the law enforcement community has stopped lying about the issue and there is more information on the table we expect lawmakers to act to prevent these sexual assaults,” Burns said. “Alaska has long held the shameful title of being the rape capital of the U.S. because of our rape statistics on the Uniform Crime Report, so preventing sexual assault is a strong priority here.”

Meanwhile, leading the way, New York City’s finest get a huge discount when they shake down sex workers: [nydaily] because, as has already been pointed out, a police officer has tremendous leverage over an illegal immigrant prostitute:

“He picked women who he knew he could take advantage of, with the hope nothing would happen to him,” NYPD prosecutor Javier Seymore said during Golden’s administrative trial at Police Headquarters.

The alleged victims came from China, Eastern Europe and the Dominican Republic and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Golden, who could be fired after the trial, denied the charges Monday. He testified he never got naked or had sex with the women.

Assigned to the narcotics bureau at the time, Golden would pay between $40 and $300 for the sex acts, prosecutors said. Then, a field team made up of fellow officers would burst in and make an arrest, NYPD lawyers claimed.