For many of those charged with sexual offenses, law enforcement may be the unfriendly enemy. Police have the unfortunate job of enforcing laws that dictate where we go, who we see, what we do. They search our homes, ask invasive questions, make our lives and those of our family down-right miserable. The very sight of blue uniforms and police cars can drive up our blood pressure and make us second-guess our actions. While police are not necessarily the law makers, they are the enforcers and often the object and target of our anger, warranted or not.
But they are not so different from us.
In fact, in some cases, they are us.
During the past year, many of those charged with possession of child pornography, a registerable offense, were police officers.
Last week, 50 police officers in the United Kingdom were arrested on child pornography charges as part of a sting called Operation Ore. The officers were among 1,300 people arrested. As of this writing, 8 officers have been charged, the rest are awaiting further investigation.
Last August a Fort Lauderdale, Florida police officer was arrested by the FBI, on charges of possessing child pornography.
Last month, a police officer in Ann Arundel, Maryland was charged with soliciting a minor and 10 counts of possessing child pornography.
In September of last year, a decorated police officer in Florida was arrested on allegations that he uploaded child pornography to a social media application.
In NY, a 10year police force veteran faced charges of possessing and receiving internet child pornography.
In Edmonton, Canada, a civilian employee with the Edmonton Police Service, was arrested and charged with making, distributing and possessing child pornography.
Badges and blue uniforms don’t make people immune from making poor choices in life or mistakes when using the internet. Police officers aren’t exempt from bad behaviors or even malicious intentions.
They are people, humans. No better, no worse than the rest of us.
Reading news stories, and there are many, about police officers charged with sexual offenses, was surprisingly kind of sad. These men in blue, men who on a Monday, were seen as “family, brethren, part of a blue- brotherhood” by their peers, when accused of offenses on Tuesday, were suddenly turned on, vilified, now viewed as “disgraceful and disgusting” by those same comrades. We’ve all been in those same shoes, loving family or friends whose views may have changed quickly once you were charged. Co-workers once friendly, now can’t seem to distance themselves far enough from you.
For many law enforcement officers accused of a sexual offense, their experiences are the same as ours and in many cases worse. As “keepers of the peace” they were held to a higher standard by their communities. For them to have engaged in behavior considered a “sexual offense” by the very community they were charged with keeping “safe”, changes the way they are viewed. Now their community sees them as pariah, they are labeled a “sex offender”, they are cast out of their blue-brotherhood, banished, like so many of us.
So, after reading this will you suddenly have warm, kind, fuzzy feelings towards law enforcement. Probably not.
But, if nothing else, you’ve seen that beneath uniforms and badges, people are just people. And those in law enforcement, those charged with the same offenses that many reading this blog may have been charged with, they are just like us, they are us.
Not all good or bad, just human.
Those of us who have been around a while, know police officers commit sex offenses. As do teachers, parents, siblings, friends of the family…all those known by the victim. The public doesn’t or denies it.
Love, peace, happiness. I do have to applaude you! I am glad I’m not a rocket scientist like some on here. I wonder how many years did it take you to figure that one out. ( just kidding) but you are right.
Its also interesting about this church in Florida. Federal courts bans Bradenton chruch from selling bleach as miracle Convid-19 cure. One wonders who’s selling what today with this internet type trapment or like one police officer retired told me that anyone that is a christian should not induce another in this sex registry ordeal. Protecting and serving are good but inducing is not. Authorities are just as guilty.
If law enforcement had any scruples they would give a warnings which are more proper handing advice as many times they sweep people up in these life long sentences, damage to one’s reputation, character and life long reprocussions that affect each one that is induced this way plus many more issues such as job restrictions, etc. Yes the phychological damage this registry does is uncomprensible and causes life long suffering in many respects
Well Kat I still see your still with Janice and her team in leading the charge of this bradge that many sex offenders face and I’m glad that you all are pressing on with the team in this ordeal that is challenging to many. Many times we all can be Humpty – Dumpty. We can try to invent the light bulb but do we all take ten steps back or ten steps forward in this computer age of enlightenment if you want to call it that.
Even Russ said that I’m on to something with his comment but actually we are all onto something. How to get rid this registry with much and many of its errors in this blind justice ordeal. When push comes to shove it seems these people. Are many of these under-cover officers throwing poison darts to one in some of these internet type setting with this poison recipe? One could understand more of how to react in a real type setting but this internet encounter is a bit much or who has dirty pictures in their wallet or purse string and shows pictures of enticement in many cases in real life. One wonders were is the decorum in all this sexual defrauding.
Now come on guys nothing wrong with a bit of bible common sense and nobody should defraud others. Kat I’m impressed with this article you presented and the article does have meaning. Some of the ladies on here preaching about this distance from schools and many other things of finding places to live, kids visitations and other elements are no good.
Yes sexual defrauding is something to understanding because many can defraud in many ways. Many get entangled in this registry or other situations and don’t know how to handle it. We have our ups and downs at times but love covers all.
They’re part of a brotherhood. They all went through “indoc” and all the glad-handing on their way up the ranks. Believe the system. Trust the system. Defend the system. Get the “bad guys”. Serve the “community”.
In this media-hungry world they are all looking for the big score, their ticket to looking like heroes. The training and peer-pressure makes them take their jobs beyond 9-5, beyond the pay grade sometimes. They can’t separate the job from their individuality. As dad would say, “they can’t punch out”. And what further compounds the issue is that they got hooked on social media, bluring the lines between policing and ego-tripping. And one of the hot topics that’s all the rage is sex offenders, an effective attack vector for bad legislation to glide right through.
Of course the proponents of the system never think about the pendulum swinging back. Until it does.
Not only were they police officers but also husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, uncles, nephews to families out there. They may also be coaches, mentors, church members, and volunteers to their community. And I would even dare say that a great deal of them didn’t mix their illicit online activities with the normal positive ones that they do openly.
Just like so many of us that are doctors, politicians, lawyers, businessmen, photographers, machinists, artists, computer programmers, and so on, the Registrant is not a labeled creature from an unfathomable parallel universe living among communities. The Registrant is everyone. And like everyone the Registrant has many facets to his/her personality that are both positive and negative.
Unfortunately our negative aspects got out of hand and got us in trouble with the law. Like so many people in life. But we are so much more than the convictions that label us. And our problems is not so incomprehensible that we can’t get help to overcome it.
But we live in a symbol-minded culture where labels are everything. Our problem is the cultural mindset. They can’t see beyond the label because we are conditioned to think there is such a thing as a “US” and a “THEM”. And as long as that is in place they cannot see themselves in Registrants or see Registrants as they are beyond the label.
They are us? Actually, most of them skate with probation and somehow avoid being placed on the registry by pleading down to a lesser charge like “aggravated assault.”
The charge, conviction and prison is not what ruins lives. Being listed Online forever like a bug under glass sees to that.
Looking for an expert who can tell me how the Maryland system works, and how to find contacts in the state’s registry system. This is on behalf of my son, who has been charged with possessing child images, in that state a non-contact misdemeanor sex crime.
He has not been convicted, and he is not on the state’s offender registry. He has no record other than this. But details about his charge including evidence are available to the public. This means he cannot work, and is being evicted.
It seems that Maryland has enacted a de facto sex offender registry, with far fewer controls than the real one, but with the same impact on someone’s life. I am trying to learn if this is legal for employers and landlords to take action on this kind of information. Ideally I will find a contact who knows what to do about this.
I will monitor this space.
Many thanks. My son is a person with disabilities, a young man who has worked hard to gain a decent life for himself and has not done anything to deserve treatment like this.