The Smoking Gun presents your Moment of Zen: 14 Florida hooker mug shots.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0729051strip1.html

Okay, Girls. Line Up For Your Mug Shots
Lunchtime raids net 15 strippers in Tampa-area clubs

JULY 29--In a lunchtime undercover operation, Florida cops yesterday busted 15 strippers on a variety of criminal charges, including prostitution and exposure of a sexual organ. The arrests came at five different gentlemen's clubs (Bare Assets, Lollipops, Extasy, Brass Flamingo, and Calendar Girls) along U.S. Highway 19 in the Tampa area. According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, previous operations were carried out at night, but since the strip clubs were packed during lunch (and the talent was rather, um, frisky), the midday raid was planned. Fourteen of the arrestees posed for mug shots, which you'll find below (make sure to click on each image to see the following booking photo). We've also provided a link to a police report above a handful of photos. It is unclear if any of the charged offenses occurred in a Champagne Room. (14 pages)

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. They are sure a lot more

attractive than the hookers around here.

[Heidi]

2. Why are you calling them hookers?

The article says they're strippers. Either way, everybody's gotta make a livin'. :shrug:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. "Florida cops yesterday busted 15 strippers on a variety of...

...criminal charges, including prostitution and exposure of a sexual organ."

:toast:

[Heidi]

5. They're charged, not convicted. (nt)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. I'm not here to judge them, just post their mug shots.

:toast:

[Misunderestimator]

40. Yeah, I wondered about the focus on the mug shots themselves

with the article underneath it as if it was secondary... but of course, it really was secondary to you... :shrug:

The larger point here is that these women were entrapped... but I guess it's more fun to stare at their mugshots.

[Robb]

42. "Alleged hookers" sounds much better

:eyes:


:D

[Warren Stupidity]

43. why?

What is your point?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

46. I could say "what is your point in asking me that," but...

I won't.

Smoking Gun posted it. I posted it here. That's my point.

:toast:

[Warren Stupidity]

51. what is my point?

I'm offended is my point. This just further adds to the humiliation these women have already suffered. Why would you wish to aid in that effort?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

63. OK, so you say posting this is aiding in the humiliation of these women...

...and you know ME, and you know my INTENT, and you've read my mind and condemned me in this thread.

And you're offended.

I get "offended" on DU every day by something that rubs my sensibilities the wrong way. The way I handle it is to stay out of those threads and...perhaps reluctantly...respect the free speech of the people who post them.

Sorry, you DON'T know me. And I don;t intend th play the flame game or "justify" my actions any further to you.

:toast:

[Warren Stupidity]

67. No I don't know you which is why I asked.

And you still haven't stated why you posted these pictures here. I have not alerted anyone nor have I demanded that you stop posting humiliating pictures of prostitutes under arrest. I fully support your right to free speech, even hateful loathsome speech.

So why exactly did you post these pictures?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

70. This is the problem:

Posters on DU are not required to state their intentions.

Hateful loathsome speech?

Where? When? And who are you to judge me? Did I give you permission to do that, or did you just grant that honor upon yourself?

So why exactly did I post these pictures? Sorry. I don't need to justify my actions to you.

[Misunderestimator]

52. Yet, you added "Moment of Zen" and prominently displayed

the mug shots... Come on.... don't be coy... Somehow you think that it's a zenful moment to point at the mugshots of 15 women wrongfully entrapped and accuse them of being hookers. That's pretty clear.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

69. Wrongfully entrapped?

I'm really not trying to be coy. I didn't post this to vent some kind of misogynist yearning that until now has gone unfulfilled.

Smoking gun is a SNARKY web site. Anyone here not understand that? They don't post mug shots because they want to help out a fellow human who's down on their luck. They post them to draw hits to the web site.

And the "prominently displayed zenful moment" can be found in the responses to this thread.

Seriously.

Maybe these women were "wrongfully entrapped." Read the police report, also on The Smoking Gun, at the link I provided in the original post. I'm not going to post it here because it is graphic in content. If the undercover cop LIED about what happened, she was "wrongfully entrapped."

If it HAPPENED, it's illegal. If prostitution should be legalized, that's a debate that can take place, but TODAY, what happened was ILLEGAL and arrests were made.

Once again, folks...I welcome any and all comments regarding my posts, but when you start explaining my intentions and my values to me, you're making a tremendous leap of faith in your own psychic ability.

:toast:

[Misunderestimator]

72. I'm telling you the effect of your post. Whatever your intentions are...

I don't really care. Having the mugshots displayed the way they are with "Moment of Zen" in your title comes across as intentionally making fun of these women.

ON EDIT... As well as "Hooker" in the title. How much more obvious do someone's intentions have to be before we're allowed to assume them?

The end.

[Heidi]

47. If that were even remotely true . . .

you would have asked some of the salient questions that have been posted in this thread, and you would have referred to them as "strippers" or "women" instead of "hookers."

[Hugin]

6. What tune were they playing on their "sexual organs"?

Oooo... I *like* organ music.

[Fuzz]

3. It is unclear if any of the charged offenses occurred in a Champagne Room.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[WI_DEM]

7. Prostitution should be taken off the streets by legalizing it

and taxing it. I've never understood why it should be illegal for two consenting adults to have sex. If the woman (or man) wants to charge for it--that is up to them and if somebody wants to pay for it--that's their business. Afterall, as everyone admits--it is the oldest profession.

[Heidi]

10. Right on.

Thanks for reflecting exactly what the majority of posters in Floogeldy's discussion yesterday said. :applause:

[In_The_Wind]

35. well put

:applause:

[blondeatlast]

I couldn't agree more. This is a place where society's nose

doesn't belong--and cops have much more important things to do with their time.

[benito]

9. Left Eye

is looking a little rough.

[WCGreen]

18. I hear TLC is looking for a new member....

She would fit the legacy....

[Heidi]

28. Clever, WCGreen.

:eyes:

[WCGreen]

66. I try Heidi, I really do try......

[hallc]

11. WTF is with the one chick's eye?

Gross!

[benito]

17. I believe

a males right fist made contact with it at some point recently.

just an opinion.

[GOPisEvil]

12. Edited...read the police reports

Sting operation...entrapment...po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

[Heidi]

13. Exactly.

If it's a crime for one of the participants, it's a crime for both (although I don't believe it should be a crime for any adult involved).

[GOPisEvil]

15. I read the police reports

Undercover officers were posing as customers.

The "prostitution" were lap dances, since the moves are sexual. :eyes: Give me a break.

I agree with you on legalization. Tax it and keep it clean.

[Heidi]

22. That entrapment stuff really rubs me the wrong way,

so to speak. Prostitution is legal where I live, and I don't see how using one's genitals (or whatever part floats the customer's boat) to make a living is any different than me using my hands to make a living as an artist. I'd post more thoughts on this, but I'd probably be crucified by somebody somewhere, and it's too nice a Saturday for that. ;)

I agree with you 1000 percent.

[GOPisEvil]

24. Another reason I need to move to Europe.

;)

I really should look into getting that Greek passport back. :dilemma:

[Heidi]

27. Plenty of reasons

for getting that Greek passport back, my friend. But Texas probably needs your good heart and mind very badly these days. :hug:

[GOPisEvil]

29. True...true...but it's nice to have options.

:hug:

[Heidi]

30. I hear ya.

That's why I'll soon have two passports myself.

[Hugin]

14. I doubt it...

If they were I'm sure we wouldn't see Jeb... I mean their names
and pictures posted on the Internet.

[sleipnir]

62. Don't the cops have better things to do?

Like find Natalee Holloway or actually try to stop violent crime.

This shit is so stupid, I don't know where to begin.

[Mutley]

16. This one is HAPPY about it!

I don't think I'd be smiling and posing if I were just arrested for prostitution.

[WCGreen]

21. It's Cameron Diaz on an undercover

Job for Charlie....

[Mutley]

32. Lol.

Could be, could be.

[Heidi]

25. Maybe you'd be smiling

if you thought you'd be unlawfully entrapped and arrested. Suppose?

[Mutley]

31. Heh. Not smiling. Maybe screaming at the top of my lungs.

[In_The_Wind]

38. perhaps it's because she knows she will be found innocent of all charges

[Heidi]

41. Right on.

Are you believin' this crap, J_A? I've always considered myself more of a human-beanist than a feminist, but don't we have better things to do than entrap folks who are trying to make a living?

Thanks for speaking up.

[In_The_Wind]

71. It's time for a change!

we spend far too much money, waste too many hours persecuting/prosecuting the wrong people

[Mutley]

45. That could be true.

Apparently the cops in that town have nothing better to do. Their murder rate must be the lowest in the country. :eyes:

[GOPisEvil]

19. Another question? Aren't there more important crimes going on in Pasco Co?

I mean...the literal manpower this took could have been spent catching violent offenders, no?

This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. I bet there's an election for sheriff coming up.

[Hugin]

20. This round-up sounds like a classic extortion scam...

Pay up... or we'll haul you in.

[blondeatlast]

55. When Maricopa County's own infamous Sheriff Joe is feeling

ignored, he's famous for pulling off one of these stunts.

Of course, now he's busy going after the owners of algae-ridden swimming pools--I'm not kidding, either:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2005/180605poolowners.htm

[Tallison]

23. The talent wasn't 'frisky'

They were trying to make a living. See the woman with the bloodshot eye? I'm sure she just looooves her job.

[Heidi]

26. Yep.

I don't know how she got her bloodshot eye and wouldn't hazard a guess, but if prostituion were legal and sex workers were entitled to equal protection under the law, it'd be a much safer way to make a living.

If it was illegal for these women, it was illegal for their partners in the crime: the customers.

[Union Thug]

33. Exposure of a sexual organ..

Way to kill the thrill!

But going by this standard, a lot of Florida cops should be arrested everyday - they are, after all, dicks.

Man, one of those girls has a nasty eye infection... Get her some medical care...

[El Fuego]

34. The cops were willing recipients of the alleged acts.

I'm no expert, but I thought the cops were supposed to take the cash and make the arrest BEFORE they engaged in sexual activity. If the cops are receiving (and presumably enjoying) the girls "sexual services" and then arresting them afterwards, there is something very wrong with that.

And some of the girls were arrested just for asking for an alcoholic drink? Geez.

[Heidi]

37. There's something very wrong

with the fact that the cops' mugshots aren't there, right alongside the so-called defendants'.

Thanks for being a rational human bean, El Fuego.

[blondeatlast]

58. Excellent point. nt

[Warren Stupidity]

36. persecution of prostitutes

employs pimps, finances corrupt police departments, and guarantees that STDs are regularly passed to customers. Criminalization benefits nobody except corrupt officals and thier pimp associates.

Posting these pictures directly aids the nanny-state mentality that permits the exploitation of prostitutes.

[Heidi]

39. Thank you.

I'd like to know how on earth how these women making a living with their bodies is any different than me making a living with my hands as an artist. Not one person who feels superior to a prostitute has been able to explain that to me in _two_ threads on this topic.

[Warren Stupidity]

48. your welcome

Although I may just be overly grumpy and perhaps the OP meant no harm, it just seems to be intended to further humiliate these women.

[Robb]

50. Well, I feel superior to a prostitute...

... I need to explain it? :shrug:

Of course I feel superior to a lot of people ... and so does everyone else who's honest. I also feel inferior to a few.

Different strokes (no pun intended) for different folks. I think they have every right to be prostitutes, frankly. But at the same time I don't think glorifying it is in any better taste than glorifying any other dead-end job with long hours, low pay, and dangerous work conditions.

I don't see anyone celebrating my right to work in a non-union coal mine.

[Heidi]

53. Oh, yeah?

My maternal grandfather died of black lung disease as a result of working for decades in a non-union coal mine, and I celebrate his life with the way I live mine, and by doing everything I can to make sure _all workers_ are equally protected under the law. I don't feel superior to anyone because I'm _not_. Maybe you are, though. :shrug:

[Robb]

61. That's great.

...So why is it I'm not supposed to feel superior to prostitutes? Or inferior to astronauts?

I survived, comfortable but tired, for three years as a waiter and working construction labor, by working hard. Show me one prostitute who said "I became a prostitute because I wanted to work hard and get ahead."

I think lumping prostitutes as a labor class in with people who get up at 3:30 to drive to a 10-hour workday is insulting to people who give everything they've got for their families.

So tell me why I shouldn't feel that way.

[Warren Stupidity]

54. Glorify?

How about we just leave them alone?

Celebrate?

Are your mug shots being posted on the internet? Oh wait, you don't get routinely arrested and extorted by the police for working your trade, so it isn't an issue for you.

[arwalden]

44. Yep!

[blondeatlast]

59. Absolutely! Nailed it. nt

[CanuckAmok]

60. except a vast majority of prostitutes do not want it legalised.

Decrminalisation os preferred.

In every jurisdiction where prostitution is legalised, the first effect is that prostitutes' incomes go way down as more women (who were afraid of being arrested) take it up, and competition increases dramatically.

Also, it's usually licensed with some sort of tax-grab system, like an Escort License, which costs money, mandatory STD tests at the sex workers' expense, and, of course, taxation of income.

[Warren Stupidity]

64. so what

Actually I'm wondering if you can back that up at all. I hadn't noticed that in the European nations where prostitution is legal and regulated that there was a movement to re-criminalize it led by prostitutes. I also haven't heard much from Nevada regarding efforts there by prostitutes to get the law back all over them. I could be wrong of course, although I am fairly sure that I am not.

There is a public health issue that is independent of the morality issue that argues strongly for the legalization and regulation of prostitution in the public interest. It is the same rational as why, regardless of what you think of the morality of injected drug addiction, syringes should be legally and available. Reduction of STD transmission through prostitution requires legalization and regulation.

[Tallison]

73. Then why does it thrive

in specific Nevada counties? Obviously decriminalization would lower prostitutes' wages, but to a very worthwhile benefit: safety and the circumvention of a criminal history should these women ever want to move on in their lives.

[Scout1071]

49. Were any men arrested? It takes two to tango.

[Warren Stupidity]

56. why should anyone be arrested?

Consenting adults one providing a service to another for a fee. Why on earth is that a crime? What the heck is wrong with it?

[Deja Q]

57. Terrorists, the lot of them!

:crazy:

[Ron Green]

65. Ah, the State vs. the Free Market

Same as it ever was.

[Dukkha]

68. now THIS is a funny mug shot!

Patrick Tribett was nabbed in July 2005 by Ohio cops and charged with abusing harmful intoxicants. The 41-year-old Tribett, it seems, had been huffing spray paint and needed a refill (he was popped after seeking a fresh can at a Bellaire general store). According to police, Tribett's pupils were constricted and he replied slowly to their questions. Oh, and "officers observed the paint on face and hands," as can be seen in the below mug shot. Tribett, who was previously busted for assault, domestic violence, and inhaling harmful intoxicants, was booked into the Belmont County Sheriff's Office lockup.

:rofl: He looks like a cheesy Batman villain!

[KG]

74. this threads sucks.

if not a sex thread, it sure as hell is sexist.

well, i guess the OP is feeling pretty good about himself, and isn't that the important thing?

[Midlodemocrat]

75. Locking.

This has turned into a flame fest.

Thank you.

DU Moderator.