In the state of Hawaii, it is legal for an undercover police officer to have sex with a prostitute during investigation, then arrest her afterwards.
A provision in Hawaii’s legislation permits officers to engage in sexual activities with prostitutes as long as the police officer is compliant with procedures and conduct that is regulated by department policy.
This means police acting in the course of their duties are legally allowed to have sex with prostitutes. Law enforcement experts and women's advocates have called that provision unnecessary and an invitation to abuse.
Melissa Farley, executive director of the San Francisco-based group Prostitution Research and Education, said prostitutes commonly complain of being coerced into giving sexual favors to police to keep from getting arrested.
Lawmakers have been working to revamp and toughen Hawaii's decades-old law against prostitution, and had proposed scrapping the sex exemption for officers on duty.
But Honolulu police officials told lawmakers the exemption is a valuable crime-fighting tool, and an amended version of the bill later passed the House with the exemption intact.
Honolulu police say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Otherwise, they argue, prostitutes will insist on sex to identify undercover officers.
This year, state legislators moved to revamp Hawaii's decades-old law against prostitution. They toughened penalties against pimps and those who use prostitutes. They also proposed scrapping the sex exemption for officers on duty.
However, the legislation was amended to restore that protection after police objected. The revised proposal passed the House and is now before the Senate.
Selling sex would remain a petty misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.--Source: Guardian LV/Rapid City Journal