I came across this article on another board, and thought it should be shared here for the benefit for all nubies, a refresher for Seniors and for all providers. Sorry that it long, but it is packed with some good intel to remember.
Some Basic Thoughts on LE as it pertains to the Hobby
Cops are inherently lazy (most of them).
Large cities create different divisions in their police force (Patrol, Detective, Administration, Dispatch, Corrections, etc.).
Large departments create special divisions within their detective bureau (homicide, theft, auto theft, juvenile, vice, narcotics, etc.)
The smaller the departments, the less likely it is that you will see a detective division, let alone one specifically designated to work vice.
Depending on what environment and/or culture you are in will determine what attitude you will encounter with regards to nudity. (i.e., Europeans, and South Americans generally permit partial or total nudity in public, USA has created an attitude that nudity is bad.)
It has been said that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession.
Depending on what environment and/or culture you are in will determine what attitude you will encounter with regards to prostitution.
The USA began with the establishment of colonies along the Eastern Coast. Many of these colonies were formed of people with strong, strict religious principals. (i.e., the New England Puritans. Ours roots produced a White Anglo Saxon Protestant [WASP] mentality that nudity, sex was wrong.)
In Europe, attitudes concerning prostitution, sex and nudity are much more liberal than here in the States.
As a result of our history and upbringing, the American people generally are opposed (publicly) to prostitution.
Politicians like their cushy jobs and want to keep those jobs. They respond to pressure from society and have passed laws prohibiting prostitution.
Prostitution, when it occurs here in the States, therefore generally occurs in secret as opposed to openly. That secrecy fosters and promotes other criminal acts that are often associated with prostitution by the American public, its politicians and law enforcement. (Johns are robbed, drugs associated with prostitution, women forced to be prostitutes, etc.)
The police, politicians and the public then demand action to stop prostitution to cut down crime, prevent forced prostitution, cut down on drugs. The police chief, hoping to keep his job, and the politician hoping to keep his job, respond to the problem so perceived by cracking down on prostitution by arresting prostitutes and their clients.
Various interest groups manipulate this whole man made problem to their advantage (the wife or the girlfriend who discovers that her significant other has seen a provider, politician hoping to get elected or to retain their jobs, police who can’t catch a criminal pick the escort business to demonstrate that they are taking action to cut down on crime.)
The bottom line is whether you are a provider or a hobbyist, there are social forces at work that result in the profession, the providers and the clients, under the right circumstances, becoming targets of law enforcement.
Therefore,
ONE - if you are going to participate in this area, you should be aware of the police department that covers that area and whether they have a special division to investigate these “crimes.” If they do, you are more at risk to meet Johnny Law than if you were in a jurisdiction that did not have a special unit.
TWO – You should be sensitive to the political mumbling taking place in that jurisdiction. If the mayor has announced that he wants to crack down on this activity, you stand a better chance that you will encounter Johnny Law.
THREE – If you intend to participate in the area, whether as a provider or a hobbyist, you need to accept the fact that you may meet up with Johnny Law and you had better have an idea what you are going to do and how you will handle it.
FOUR – If you are going to participate in this area, and you have the misfortune to meet Johnny Law, LE will do everything it can to get you to talk and tell names. What you do and say will depend upon your particular circumstances, but giving up your companion should not be one of them. In other words, you don’t give up the provider when you are the client, and you don’t give up the client when you are the provider when Johnny Law applies the pressure. You walked into this with your eyes open, don’t turn roll over for them just because they put pressure on you. If you are a hobbyist and you have a wife or a significant other who is going to cause you grief because you have been with a provider, then either suck it up and take it like a man, or don’t make an appointment with a provider. If you are a provider who got nailed, do not talk about your clients.
Providers
If you are a provider, you should understand how LE works. If you are in a jurisdiction that has a vice unit, that unit has to produce to keep their supervisors happy.
Motel operators are very cooperative with LE.
There is nothing that says that a cop can’t lie to you.
Cops are not supposed to engage in a sexual act with you, but they do. If they are a cop and they engage in a sexual act with you, they may not bust you this time, but wait until the next time, when they avoid the sexual contact. Or they may simply use the information to get a search warrant and then take you down, or they may simply issue a complaint. If you appear, you may plead. If you appear and contest the charge, they may drop the case rather than expose their methods. You need an attorney to help advise you.
If your appointment is with a cop and he is going to bust you, he will most likely have fellow officers nearby (outside the door). He may be wearing a wire (transmitter to fellow officers) or carrying a tape recorder.
If it is going to be a bust, he will generally do something to signal the other officers to come in, either by speaking a prerecorded phrase, or going to the door and opening it, etc. Many busts go down when the officer excuses himself to use the bathroom.
Think about the case from the police/prosecution perspective: If the cops enter and the provider is naked or partially nude and the undercover officer is clothed, their case is a lot stronger.
**If there is an exchange of money, the money is “marked” money. That is, generally, the cops have recorded the serial numbers of the bills. This money is found in the provider’s possession, it is evidence that the provider took money for something from this undercover cop.
**The cop, in a bust situation, will want there to be discussion about a sexual act and money for that act.
**If you advertise in order to get clients, understand that LE is reading those ads as well.
**If you are busted by the cops, understand that they will take any cash you have, they will take your cell phone, they will take your computer, they will seize your car.
If you are busted by the cops, they will put pressure on you to talk.
If you are busted by the cops, they may have the media with them.
If you are busted by the cops, and the media is with them, your name (and picture) may appear in the media (TV, newspaper).
Provider do’s and don’ts
Pick carefully your incall location, with an eye towards, what police agencies may cover that area, what the political situation is like.
If you are going to do an outcall, give some thought to where the appointment is going to be and what LE agency covers that area and what the political situation is like.
When you get a call for an appointment, never discuss money or what services you will provide. If it is LE, the call will probably be taped.
**If meeting someone you have not seen before, demand references. Get numbers that you can call discreetly, check the web for the company name and so on. However, be mindful that the cops can set up a phone for you to call that is answered at the Police Department. Same way with company addresses, and references. Anyone can set up a web page with a phony picture and email address. You contact a provider reference and get an all clear. How do you know it was a legitimate provider and not LE?
**A provider recently told me that she will not take a new local client who cannot give her a local provider reference. This makes good sense. **If your prospective client lives locally, but cannot give you a reference to another local provider, there is something wrong, unless the guy is a flat out newbie.
If you are meeting this guy for the first time, embrace him. Run your hands up and down his back, front, legs, everywhere. See if you can feel a wire or tape recorder. If you feel one, keep quiet about it and cancel the meeting.
Incall or outcall, give some thought to where you park you car. Try to park your car in the lot of the hotel or restaurant next door. (Remember, cops are lazy. They will run all the plates of the cars in the hotel lot looking for yours, but generally will not go to adjacent lots. If you want to park your car in the lot, give some thought to using a rental car. Cops may try to seek forfeiture of your car claiming it was used in furtherance of a crime. They can’t if it’s a rental car.)
Incall or outcall, give some thought to leaving your cell phone in your car. The cops will seize your phone if they find it, check all of the numbers that are on it, subpoena the phone records for the past year and try to work the case from that angle. Give some thought to using throw away phones, if you want the phone with you. Change it regularly, the more often the better. It makes it more difficult for the cops to show you are in the sex business for money without a lot of calls.
Incall or outcall, if they bust you, they are going to take your computer if they find it. Give some thought to leaving it in the car as well.
**If outcall, circle the lot before you park to see if there is anyone sitting in a car watching.
If incall, watch the client approach through the peephole.
If incall, try to get a room hat overlooks the parking lot. Watch the lot for the client to arrive. Cancel the appointment, if he has someone with him, or if other cars pull in with him. They almost always will talk with one another before they come up. Problem is if they meet off site. But, two or three cars coming in at the same time should send up flags for you.
If incall, DO NOT open the door and greet the client naked or in a skimpy, see through negligee. If you know the client and you trust him, perhaps, but never, never, never, with a first time meet.
**Never take the money from the client, EVER. (I understand that you want to make sure that the funds in the correct amount have been paid, but you are putting your neck in the noose by taking the money or counting it.)
Always let the client make the first move. If he is hesitant, suggest that he make himself comfortable. He should take the clue and get naked. Your attorney can argue that you were so overcome by the sight of his beautiful naked body, that you couldn’t stop yourself from doing him. If he doesn’t take the hint, give some thought to canceling the appointment.
**Expect that, if you advertise, your ad will be used against you. If your photo is there, and if you have a tattoo and that tattoo appears in the photo, they can link you to the ad, to sex trade for money. Consider covering the tattoo with makeup before the photo or getting a stick-on/peel-off tattoo if you have no tattoos. Your lawyer can argue that they have the wrong person – that you are not the person depicted in the photo. If your face appears in the ad, again, you are linked to the ad and the sex trade for money. Better to limit photos to shots where your face is not seen. As a hobbyist, I want to know what the fee is before I call a provider. **However, if you post a price in your ad, you have linked yourself to the sex for money trade. You’re not fooling anyone when you ask for 300 red roses. On the other hand, you absolutely do not want to discuss money with the client, EVER! I suggest that what remuneration you expect should be couched in terms of what you charge for your companionship. It should not reference GFE.
You do not want anything to do with drugs. If the client brings drugs, cancel the appointment immediately.
You should have memorized phone numbers of an attorney and a bail bondsman. Since the cops will probably take your phone, computer and money, you need a way to reach someone so the calvary can come to your aid. Having a phone number that you can call collect to get help on the way would be prudent.
If you do not think you can handle being arrested, losing your phone, your computer, your car, having your name and picture plaster in the media, you should consider a different line of work.
If the cops have busted you, and you know they have you dead to rights, you probably should not be hard-nosed with them. They’ll make your life miserable. But, if it is a questionable arrest, you should give serious thought not making any statements. You have the right to speak with an attorney and you should exercise that right. Getting arrested is one of the hazards of the business.
Since getting arrested is one of the hazards of the business, you should consider not playing in your own backyard, unless you can handle the publicity.
Bottom line here is be safe, be careful.
If you are aware of providers that are rip offs, get the word out. If a crime occurs and is linked to the business, expect cranked up LE heat, and you don’t need that.
If you are aware of clients that are suspicious, get the word out to other providers.
If you are in the business as a provider, talk with and get to know other providers. Locate and participate in boards that share info between providers. Participate in those boards and discussions. The more you learn, the safer you will be.
If you are arrested, the cops will question you. Anything you say can come back to haunt you, even if you have not been advised of your right to remain silent. The best advice I can give you is to remain silent except to say, “I want to talk to my lawyer.”
Hobbyists
Most busts of Hobbyists are on the street where cops put an undercover police officer on the street as a street walker. You’re on your own there, guys.
I have not seen or heard of a situation where an undercover cop places an ad, does either an incall or outcall, and then makes an arrest. That is not to say it hasn’t or won’t happen. If it is going to happen, it will probably be in the larger cities.
The provider should lock the door after you enter. If she doesn’t, you should consider leaving.
Assuming this is the first time with this lady, never hand the money to the provider and never talk about what sexual acts will be performed. You should do your research before making an appointment with the provider. Does she have a web site, does she have reviews.
If you are busted by LE, they will take your phone, your money and tow your car. Consider leaving your car, phone and extra money in your car and consider parking your car in the parking lot of a neighboring restaurant or hotel.
If you are busted by LE, they will try to question you, even if you have not been advised of your right to remain silent. Keep your mouth shut except to say, “I want to call my lawyer.”
Have memorized a phone number of an attorney and bail bondsman. Also a number that you can call collect to get help on the way.
Lastly, Provider –client contact, LE waiting outside the door:
In this scenario, generally either the provider or the client is an undercover cop or informant. Follow the procedures above.
However, if it is a legitimate provider and a legitimate client, and LE is waiting outside the door, they don’t have anything unless you start talking. Keep your trap shut except to say, “I want to talk to my lawyer.”
Again sorry for the length!
Wingman
