Warrantless surveillance, Comic Con “sex trafficking,” and the persistence of trafficking myths
Moral panic about sex work leads to law enforcement practices that reach far beyond anyone engaged in or with erotic labor. The latest example comes from San Diego County, California, where cops are putting up a creepy surveillance tower under the auspice of stopping sex sellers and sex buyers from meeting.
The prostitution surveillance tower, stationed along National City’s Roosevelt Avenue, will record video of anyone who happens to be in the area.
What a wonderful WASTE of taxpayer money! How do they ID perpetrators while they’re in Cosplay? How do they distinguish one Slave Leia from another or Darth Vaders for that matter? Can’t see this work at all…
It needs to be torn down.
Lets say a girl is there offering herself and her brother or father shows up and convinces her to get in the car so he can take her home to get her some help. Is that guy going to get charged for soliciting? What if a girl is there and calls a friend to come pick her up and take her to her home because she doesn’t want to sell herself any more?
How exactly are these cameras going to distinguish between actual prostitution and the examples I just gave?
If I had a sister or a friend who was engaging in prostitution and she called me and asked me to come help her, you’re damn right I’m going to go get her and get her off the street. How would I be breaking the law?
This is great follow up to the post I posted last week about this “sting” here which also debunks (again) the theory major sporting events are the only alleged places where these things happen due to alleged trafficking for over-amped drunk sports fans. Who’d thunk those who attended such events were such pervs (sarc) (were they really attending this event?) or just in the area where the allegations were happening because that is where the sting was placed by LE since the DA said it is a place it could happen (making themselves look good of course)? Doesn’t one usually go to the area where things are allegedly sold if that is what they are looking for? What is stopping LE from placing a sting outside a major children’s pizza chain or arcade under the guise of trying to “save just one from the suspicious white trolling van”? That’d make headlines and garner more funding, right?! It is interesting because in theory, one can sell their body anywhere (even without Backpage being around anymore) regardless of a major event such as this or not. Were the major political conventions targeted for stings like this? Shouldn’t they be? You can get more funding at one and defunded at another (where my body my choice is present except for situations such as this which you don’t have the legal choice). There has to be a politician or two who will scream the loudest about wanting more laws to combat this only to be a consumer of such.
Did they (SD LE) just happen to do it here to most likely try to restore some cred to their damaged rep they’ve suffered due to their own idiocy, e.g., jail deaths, bad commissioners, etc that are in SD County? You have to wonder…
Prostitution should not be illegal. Just like plenty of other things.
It is not anyone’s business if some adults want to have SEX with each other and exchange whatever they like between themselves. People who think it should be illegal should not fool themselves into believing that they have done anything good for the world or humanity. Just like so many things that busybody Karens muck around in, they have made any problems around it worse. And when government is involved, there is NO problem that they cannot make worse.
No one should delude themselves that Amerika is a free country. It very much is not. Never has been.
Just like the registry – a cosmetic display of addressing a problem (and I suspect a grossly overstated one) that accomplishes absolutely nothing.
I’m sure whoever proposed this idiocy will be campaigning on it.
I agree with Will Allen – sex between consenting adults (even prostitution) should not be illegal. BUT …. if legislators want to support S.O. Registries, I want to see ALL those who break sex laws – including a “John” who purchases sex from a prostitute – should be listed on their beloved Registries!! When legislators’ husbands, brothers, sons, neighbors, coworkers and constituents suddenly find THEMSELVES listed on the Registry, maybe then things will start to change at a more rapid pace!!