Member Submission: Predators in Police Clothing
Written by Linda, a CAGE member and supporter.
You’re a Washington State Patrol officer with Operation Net Nanny. It’s an Internet Crimes Against Children task force and you’re on your way to arrest an innocent man.
The dirty jokes fly during the ride but the scripts your commander writes for you to lure these guys in sometimes make you wonder. It’s worse than the shit you watch when the wife’s out of town.
As the van parks behind a house, you high-five each other and grab your gear. Everyone is armed and wearing a flack vest with the Net Nanny logo on the back. Some guys write tallies on their hats in permanent ink.
This time all of the equipment seems like overkill. The 19 year old kid you talked into driving to meet you won’t know what hit him because you’ve got him thinking up is down.
You’re allowed to lie and deceive and your tactics work best on the vulnerable. You troll for your targets in adults-only forums where they’ll assume they’re talking to other adults. When they ask, you send them a photo of an adult female police officer – minus the uniform, of course. Some of these guys are still in their teens and many have underlying developmental issues that affect their judgement so they get confused when you suddenly tell them you’re underage.
This one stopped texting you so you approached him again and again until he relented, skeptical of your claim and knowing role play is common in online forums.
You know he’s guilty of bad judgement and you also know he’s not a predator. There’s a difference between a man who’s dumb enough to follow the wrong head and the guy who plans ahead. Still, you’re going for attempted rape of a child.
You had no probable cause when you first engaged him but once you got him to talk sex you were able to begin collecting evidence. You coached him into driving to meet you. You even told him what to bring so you could arrest him with the evidence you’d need to put him away.
Only a handful of the dozens of guys you arrest have a criminal record, photos, or any other incriminating evidence in their possession but a bunch of Joe Schmoes is easier and cheaper to round up than the real thing – and the numbers make for great headlines.
You stoke hysteria in hyped-up press releases where you call those you’ve arrested sexual predators and publish their names as if they’ve already been convicted. You use language that elicits fear – and donations.
Manipulation is your Modus Operandi.
You falsely report that the stings involve victims in order to procure federal grant money and the overtime you spend on them boosts the value of your retirement pension.
You know it’s a racket and you don’t give a shit about the wreckage you leave behind.“How old’s this one again?” someone asks. “Too young for you” someone else says, followed by laughter.
You crawl out of the van and take your positions in the house. Someone asks you what you’re ordering at the Chinese restaurant you’re hitting after the sting. You call out “Sweet and Sour, baby; like your Grandma”. You hear groans.
Your mind wanders as you shift in your vest and your finger twitches against the trigger of your weapon. A part of you wishes the target would draw a gun on you…As you hear a car approaching, you pat yourself on the back for the skill it took to lure an innocent man into spending the rest of his life in prison.
A car door shuts. You get the signal and you move. Gun drawn, you watch in disbelief as your teammates take your son into custody.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“Gun drawn, you watch in disbelief as your teammates take your son into custody.”
I’m abstain from quoting a % right now as FAC has moderated my previous posts. Let’s just say, quite a few minors commit sex crimes.
This story is not suggesting that his son is a minor. It is suggesting that the he and his buddies just entrapped his son. How their came back to bite one of their own. His son could be 18 yrs old or up. Js
They moderated mine as well. However, I put alot of controversial politics in my reply.
Florida places minors on the registry and keeps them there.
It shocks me how this type of activity continues to go on unabated. Clearly the general public, for the most part, despises anyone even suspected of being a SO, but obvious entrapment of innocent people should surely upset even those haters ? How is it that the ACLU doesn’t get involved in these phoney stings ? Is it the stigma ? Or am I wrong and the ACLU does intervene on some of these ?
Luckily, if you can afford a competent attorney, you may prevail in one of these flimsy charges. Sadly though, not everyone can afford a good lawyer and the PD office is far to overburdened to really help anyone.
The entrapment isn’t obvious b/c law enforcement tells news reporters that the targets are predators. And those reporters rely on law enforcement for a constant stream of sensational scoops. It’s time-consuming unrewarding for reporters to ask more questions and poke holes.
Plus the US legal definition of entrapment is rather narrow, limiting the options of the PD office in many cases.
i can’t tell you how hard we tried to get ACLU involved even after Florida’s top ACLU guy went on the record to call out the stings, but no ACLU attorney would take the case and it was inexcusable in my opinion. https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/aclu-leader-wants-federal-review-of-polk-sex-stings/67-300242131
this pretty much sums it up and it is well orchestrated, especially the way they report the information to media to make it look like they are the heroes when in fact they are the villian
I was curious about how much sex offender stings operations cost. I didn’t dive deep but found a good piece on a lawyers website. It said about $100k per, and that money comes from there federal government. So it’s a money scheme as most of us thought. Under my same search I found an article a couple years ago in Indianapolis a sting with only one man was charged after trying to lure men to a hotel to meet a minor. Now if they were really looking for a minor from the get go then yes lock them up. But as it shows from the two articles it’s all publicity and money. I thought about emailing this instead of posting here in hopes to share the stuff with more people. But I’m about to have back surgery and I’m sorry but this is easier.
I’m curious if the police force bills the government or if it’s part of its regular budget?
I mean: cops are generally paid salaries, tactical gear gets used for multiple raids, etc.
I read about a sting that said the Marshals we’re covering the overtime for the sheriff to do the sting. So I think, not sure, it is something they all for from the feds. I’m trying to find more about it. Any tools that can be shared to show why the registry is bad, why these stings are a waste, will help us all eventually. Hopefully.
it depends on if it is an ICAC sting operation or not. If it is, it is funded by the OJJDP of the DOJ.
I don’t know about elsewhere but in Washington state, my understanding is that Net Nanny is/was? a special operation that wasn’t fully funded. They were allowed to solicit donations from the private sector which, in my opinion, was a set up for financial incentives.
In the past, WSP had an especially close relationship with a group called O.U.R. which, it turns out, is now under criminal investigation.
Donations paid for overtime and overtime contributes to how much a WSP officer gets at retirement.
Incentives anyone?
Not enough room here to cover everything.
if it is an icac run sting funded by the OJJDP they must file reports per the MOU but does not include expenditures. Why? i have no idea, You would think they would require an itemized list but they do not.
i researched these stings for years, received FOIA requests i made from the DOJ, numerous news articles and worked with several reporters on this issue and Lord knows how many attorneys as well as others arrested in stings. It is the biggest scam ever and they’ve gotten away with ruining the lives of innocent men. Its called “cooking the books” and they’ve fooled so many.
I’m wanting to encourage people to fight fire with fire: go for their money in a civil law suit. 42 USC 1983 is one to consider. It has to do with states actions denying people of their constitutional rights which is what is happening.
Couldn’t hurt to talk to an attorney because money talks to the government.
A side effect of past civil suits? Prosecutors being sanctioned and undercover officers being indicted for perjury. Look up Tulia Texas drug sting.
I would hope that in a scenario like this, the officer(s) would rethink their use of deceit and cease their methods.
Lol. MB. You would hope but if they did they wouldn’t be able to run they’re little scams