In A Florida County, Sex Workers Are Ensnared In ‘Trafficking’ Raids
On Nov. 18, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister held a press conference to announce the results of Operation Trade Secrets II, a six-month sting that purported to target human traffickers. Flanked on one side by a placard of mugshots and on the other by a video of deputies handcuffing men and women in a hotel, Chronister told reporters that undercover detectives arrested 104 people.
“Like any business, the human trafficking industry boils down to supply and demand,” he said. “I strongly believe that in order to eradicate human trafficking, we must continue to focus on reducing the demand.”
But according to the sheriff’s own data, 28 of the arrests were sex workers charged with prostitution. Sixty-three others were charged with soliciting, a first-degree misdemeanor that, for a first-time charge, can result in one year in jail or a fine of up to $1,000. Though many of the people charged with soliciting in Operation Trade Secrets II were first-time offenders, some have paid fines exceeding $4,000, according to court documents. Others were diverted to a “misdemeanor intervention program” and charged a $75 fee.
Only three people were arrested and charged with human trafficking, defined by Florida law as “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.”
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It sounds like law enforcement is casting a wide net to catch a few questionable fish. Flex a muscle to raise money for courts, departments, and programs just to exert some form of dominance. These raids aren’t doing anything positive.
I got a question, if that is the legal Florida definition of human trafficking. Then isnt florida also broken that very same law in some of the stings they do. with human trafficking, defined by Florida law as “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person.” with these stings they entice,solicit people for exploitation, hence convictions, money and registries
If you read the whole law they exempt law enforcement whall it in line with their dutys,they do these word games to cytoa something like the underage if the person shows you an id saying they are over the age of concent it dosnt matter it can’t be used as a defence at trial,your hung
yes it very much is. The cops are even having sex and renting the prostitutes and masseuses (of course not for enjoyment,just part of the job) ,but as is the same every where in America “its ok” when the government breaks the law..Really now,isnt that the basis for the lunatic billion and one sex restriction and offender laws and regsitrys?they know they are all illegal but it’s ok because the government is doing it. very clearly out of control and convoluted insanity to the point even the prosecutors dont know them all (1st of many violations of the constitution) but but,its ok because the government is doing it…I loved Gorshes supreme court toilet argument on separation of powers .abbreviated he said” yes it is illegal and should be stopped,bring us any case that is not a sex offender and we will agree,but we dont like this guy so go ahead and break the law for him..”….
“ “The efforts behind Operation Trade Secrets will have no ending until human trafficking is stopped,” Chronister said in June.”
Oh really? And then what? When there is no crime to go arrest people for, what are the cops going to do to earn the money from our taxes?
Honestly, I’d love to see a dramatic decline in crime just to see how many police officers as well as these TV show acting detectives get laid off.
We HAVE had a decline in crime, and a rather dramatic one. Yet it’s PERCEPTIONS of crime that drive police budgets, apparently. And those perceptions are driven, not by crime statistics, but by anecdote, as disseminated by local news outlets, with assistance from sheriffs and prosecutors.
When there is a decline in crime rates without corresponding decline in police budgets, the result is Operation Trade Secrets.
never will be a drastic decrease in crime..everytime there is they will create more laws and the media will create more panic and wallah..more laws make more crime .
I just had a somewhat humorous thought. Many times we refer to George or well and his most famous novel 1984 when talking about HAL language can change. But I think sometimes we forget about some of the other stuff in that book, like the junior anti-sex league. That same concept was dealt with in a slightly more humorous fashion in the Sylvester Stallone/Sandra Bullock movie Demolition Man. It kind of makes you wonder if we’re heading in that direction?
Fine the sex workers and they will need to pay that fine…with more sex work! Bigger fines and the prostitutes will have to increase the number of men they have sex with per day. That doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Soliciting for prostitution is now sex trafficking just like sexual harassment or simple battery aka unauthorized touching are now sexual assault . Nothing to see here. Move along.
Were the actual sex traffickers any rich men, lawyers, judges, law enforcement individuals, government officials, or any other individuals like that, that easily pay off law enforcement to protect them or just automatically get law enforcement protection because of their position? Until they start addressing the reality of who the real people behind the human/sex trafficking are, they are not solving anything or helping much, if at all. It takes really strong individuals to face and deal with the reality of what is really going on. The people at the top of this business are people hiding behind the law. They are the people who are not going to get caught and exposed because they are being protected by law enforcement and government officials. Not sure why they think it’s still some kind of big secret. 🤷🏻♀️ The evidence of it just keeps growing.