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Police in Maryland are taking heat from sex workers and their advocates after announcing plans to live-tweet an upcoming prostitution sting in Prince George County — complete with photographic evidence of suspects as they’re arrested.
Calling it a “progressive” and “unprecedented social media tactic,” a press release issued Thursday by the Prince George County Police Department explained that the sting will take place some time next week at an undisclosed location within the county.
Prince George’s County police posted a follow-up message on the department’s blog Thursday, offering more details about their previously-announced plans to document a prostitution sting on Twitter next week, live as it happens.
“From the ads to the arrests, we’ll show you how the PGPD is battling the oldest profession,” they wrote. “Suspect photos and information will be tweeted. We’re using this progressive, and what we believe unprecedented, social media tactic to warn any potential participants that this type of criminal behavior is not welcome in Prince George’s County.”
Standing behind the announcement after an immediate public outcry, the department said the plan’s aim was not to embarrass sex workers, but to provide transparency and safety information for the community.
PGPD spokeswoman Julie Parker told local First Coast News that the department hopes to make itself more of a public fixture, comparing the prostitution effort to prior live-tweet events, like providing traffic details about Washington sporting events.
“So much of what a law enforcement agency does is behind the scenes and the community is really intrigued by that work. We’re simply putting it out in a public forum,” Parker said.
The irony of #PGPDVice is that they did it right, it would completely destroy the narrative on why sex work should be illegal. If …
— Hal 10000 (@Hal_RTFLC) May 2, 2014
… people saw clients weren't evil predators but lonely ordinary men, the entire justification for these busts would implode. #PGPDVice
— Hal 10000 (@Hal_RTFLC) May 2, 2014
Agencies/Canadajournal
