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You pays your nickel, you takes your chances

Barry Hess
Nov. 23, 2003 12:00 AM

Let's take a just-the-facts look at the great metro Phoenix prostitution
bust.

Someone in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office saw a dirty ad in the back
pages of a dirty magazine. You know, research. They noticed an address
offering what appeared to be very intimate personal services that went
beyond the boundaries of discretion.

That single ad sparked a most impressive investigation that gave us the
mathematical impossibility of 37 arrests and 43 busts, reported that
morning.

Welcome to spin city.

The sheriff beamed for the cameras and assured us it didn't cost taxpayers
a dime. But the simple truth is that had no money been spent on this
foolishness, it would have been put toward other liabilities.

We're told the funding came from the RICO statutes. While some of that
money was taken from real villains, most was stolen from normal, honest
people who aren't criminals.

Forgive me for pointing it out, but was it prudent to divert any resources
into the "prostitution threat"? I've heard there are murderers, thieves,
child molesters, spouse-beaters and even, dare I say, terrorists to contend
with.

Absolutely nothing has been changed by that prostitution bust.

Can you think for an instant that these silly "sting extravaganzas" are
going to bring an end to the oldest profession in the world?

While I admit it is an unacceptable practice among society's refined,
prostitution will not be eradicated by law enforcement.

. . .



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