Sure sign of spring

No, not dandelions. Rather, prostitution on the street. For my first 25 years in policing, I never saw street level prostitution in Lincoln. Now, it's not hard to find johns cruising for hookers, and hookers looking for johns--if you know where to look. It's a reflection, I think, of the depth to which addicts will sink in search of their next hit of either crack or meth. The low prices are probably the best indication of this.

Over the weekend, Sgt. Mike Bassett organized a special project in the area south of Lincoln's downtown--Just a couple blocks from the Governor's Mansion and a block from a City recreation center. In a couple of hours late Friday night and early Saturday morning, undercover police officers were propositioned by six men, all of whom were arrested for Pandering, a Class IV felony. The prices offered by these big spenders were $15 at the low end, and $50 at the high end.

This commerce has a horrible effect on neighborhoods, and we are committed to continuing our efforts to suppress it. As he has the past few years, I expect Sgt. Bassett will continue to put the heat on those who come to his beat looking for prostitutes. This is very difficult work, especially for the police officers who are posing as hookers. I will not name them, to protect their identity for future undercover work, but these are uniformed LPD street officers who were willing to adopt the persona of a prostitute for a few hours to make these arrests--in addition to the million and one other things they have on their plate.

Imagine how difficult and stressful (not to mention downright dangerous) it is to subject yourself to the process of negotiating with some repulsive cretin for sex. My compliments to these officers who did a great job of giving these johns something other than what they bargained for: a night or two in jail and a trip to court.