Cops Having Sex With Sex Workers May Soon Be Illegal In Michigan

function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); Police in Michigan will no longer be allowed to have sexual relations with sex workers during prostitution investigations, if a new bill is signed into law.The billSB 275passed unanimously in the Michigan State Senate on Wednesday. It takes away immunitythat previously made it legal for cops to have sex with sex workers if it happened during an investigation, MLive reports.Michigan is the last state to allow a free pass to undercover officers under these circumstances.The exemption was intended to protect officers working on sting investigations of prostitution rings, according to the Detroit Free Press.However, officer immunity can have disastrous consequences, according to Mary Katherine Burke, an international human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human trafficking.Burke told the Independent that law enforcement officers have been known toabuse their power to coerce victims into sex acts.Ive heard of stories of adult sex workers being detained by law enforcement and having them offer to release the sex worker without arresting or charging if the sex worker performs some sort of act... and then arresting the sex worker on prostitution charges anyway, she said.Bill sponsorState Senator Judy Emmons doesnt think Michigan police officers are taking advantage of the immunity, but said its better not to take any chances.I dont think its probably a problem, she told the Free Press.From what law enforcement tells me, nobody is trained in this, but its still on your books and it looks bad. And there could be a rogue [cop] who might take advantage of it, so lets just get rid of it.Michigan is the last state of the union to allow this exemption after Hawaii passed a similar ban in 2014. At the time,Honolulu police claimed they needed the legal protection because otherwise prostitutes would insist on sex to identify undercover officers. Law enforcement experts disagreed, saying the agreement to exchange money for sex is sufficient evidence of a crime.Although the bill passed unanimously in the Michigan Senate, it will need to pass theHouse of Representatives and be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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