Answer me this: As a cop, how in the hell do you get caught up in a sting that your own people set up? This wasn’t a sting that another county or city set up. This is YOUR department, and you’re a damn deputy! Shouldn’t you know ahead of time to pull the hell out? And these are the people enforcing our laws. Don’t you feel safer already?
Deputy snared in prostitution sting
Wayne County officer, who isn’t being named, faces solicitation charges; he was among 18 arrested.
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
DETROIT — A Wayne County deputy was among 18 people arrested this weekend in a sting targeting prostitutes and pimps who used an Internet site to hawk escort services.
The deputy faces misdemeanor solicitation charges and his police powers are suspended, said Sheriff Warren Evans. He also will face department disciplinary action, Evans said.
“While we hate to have one of our own involved, we don’t treat him any different,” Evans said Sunday afternoon. He did not identify the deputy.
Fifteen women will be arraigned on misdemeanor charges Monday. Two men suspected of being pimps for some of the women will be charged with pandering, which is a four-year felony, on Monday.
“They were pimps,” he said. “They brought the women in and were going to transport them back.”
The women advertised their services via the Web site craigslist.com. Deputies investigating the complaints set up bogus encounters with the women Thursday and Friday at hotels in Dearborn Heights, Northville, Romulus and Taylor, Evans said. He would not name the hotels.
Most of those arrested would only discuss business face-to-face, Evans said. He said all of the women wound up offering sex for money. The women were charging from $60 for 15 minutes to $300 for an hour.
Small amounts of marijuana and heroin were also seized, along with about $3,000 and 10 cars, Evans said. Evans said the women and alleged pimps were local residents, but did not know exactly where they lived.
Solicitation may not seem like a big deal to some, Evans said, but it often accompanies other crimes like theft. He said the department will conduct similar stings in the future.
“I am sure we will periodically,” the sheriff said. “It is a quality of life thing.”
Life or something like it 