Will Hawaiian Cops Have to Stop Getting Free Sex with Hookers?

HONOLULU, HI—Who knew? For many years now—it's difficult to find out how many—police officers on Hawaii's Vice Squad have been soliciting—and getting—sex with local prostitutes, and after they've gotten their rocks off, busting the gals for prostitution. But looks like the "John Squad" may soon have to pay for the privilege just like everyone else, if Hawaii's House Bill 1926 gets changed once again now that it's in the hands of the state Senate. See, HB 1926's main effect on sex would have been to reform Sections 706 and 707 of the state's Criminal Code to make "sadomasochistic abuse" a crime under the prostitution laws, as well as to amend the Code to increase penalties for those who pimp out minors, though there's an exemption in there for "johns" who are not more than two years older than the underage hooker—and of course, the fines for the illegal behavior are more than doubled as well. But one of the things Hawaiians are up in arms about is that the Code, as it currently stands,  contains the following exemption for cops: "This section shall not apply to any member of a police department, a sheriff, or a law enforcement officer acting in the course and scope of duties." Perhaps worse, that same language is contained in the version of HB 1926 that was sent to the Senate, except this time, the exemption is extended to cops' solicitation of minors for sex! And while the bill's authors—House Vice (no pun intended) Speaker John Mizuno, and Reps. Mele Carroll, Tom Brower and Karen Awana—stated that one of the purposes of the bill was to remove both exemptions entirely, once the House heard testimony from the cops, the exemptions were restored. One of the interesting aspects of the proposed law's original version is its cross-section of support. Not only were prostitutes' advocates heard from, but even whackjob anti-prostitution activist Melissa Farley supported it. "Police abuse is part of the life of prostitution," Farley, the executive director of the San Francisco-based group Prostitution Research and Education, stated, adding that "women who have escaped prostitution" commonly report being coerced into giving police sexual favors to keep from being arrested. In any case, once the Senate began its hearing on the bill, the story was a bit different. No police testified at that hearing, but the pols heard plenty from the citizens. Of particular note was the testimony of attorney Myles Breiner, who stated that one of his clients, a prostitute, had had sex with at least three officers before being busted for the crime. Besides Hawaii's law, just like almost every other state law in the nation, doesn't require that the sex act(s) be completed before a bust can take place. "Would it be OK if a policeman did ecstasy to make sure it is the real stuff? I find this type of legislation to be really baffling and confusing," said advocate Katie Caldwell. "[The] statute, the language has not changed. Crime is committed by verbal agreement," Breiner said. "You don't need to engage in sex to commit the offense. It's ludicrous." "You can expect that exemption will be out of the recommendations of the chair," responded Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee Chairperson Clayton Hee. Maybe... but the Judiciary Committee decided to defer its vote on the matter until this Friday, March 28. Why? We don't know—but there's little doubt that "law enforcement" will be working behind the scenes to get their sexual privileges restored.