Sex sting spotlights serious problems in law enforcement | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    The SBI's now getting involved. That's the story out of Wilmington in the Port City Daily. First some background.

    A year ago the Vice Squad in the Wilmington Police Department decided to conduct a sting operation on "escorts" in the area. Escorts are prostitutes. In this case they typically advertise on the internet and men (mostly) contact them from the ads and arrange a meeting.

    So Wilmington's Finest called some of the ads and invited some "ladies" to an RV in a local park. They then negotiated a deal for sex. Trouble is, it was reported, they did not do anything more than dance before they were busted. We'll save the salacious details but suffice it to say that nobody was convicted of anything, although one case is still pending (a year later-- where is Hood Richardson when they need him in Wilmington?) But we will review the following: The women were solicited by the cops. There is no record of evidence that there was a significant problem in the RV trailer park. No sex was involved, only the cops offering ever increasing amounts of money (eventually in one case, up to $1,400) for a sex act. The arrest did not come until she said: "show me the money..." And again, none of the ladies have been convicted of anything.

    Rumors began to circulate within the WPD. A source tells us it was a matter of some jerks bragging about what they had done. A female cop blew the whistle. The brass had no choice but to investigate. Sure enough Internal Affairs found policies had been violated, and it is reported that some of the sting money is unaccounted for. Surprise, surprise. And an expensive covert camera is missing. But from the looks of a popular internet site it does not appear that the escorts have curtailed their trade at all. But we expect several local attorneys got their rent paid from the cases. Meanwhile, the drug trade flourishes in Wilmington, where our source tells us they mostly bust low level mules and street dealers. Sound familiar?

    We suspect this could have just as easily have been Beaufort County.

    No, we're not aware that our Vice gendarmes go after "working ladies" but we do know that nobody outside the inner circles in the Sheriff's Department and Washington Police Department knows what they do, how they choose their sting targets and what happens to the money appropriated for "buy money." We're talking about tens of thousands of dollars. And worse still, we don't know what they do with the stuff they seize.

    What we're saying is: There is no oversight of these surreptitious operations. There is no external review board that investigates complaints. If complaints about officers are made, they are "investigated" internally and the records disappear or are locked away from review, even after the case is settled.

    There is an exception in the Public Records Law that says that records involved in a police investigation are not available for the press to review. The original intent of that was to keep disclosure from interfering with active investigations. But the local agencies continue to shield the records even after years have passed and even though they could have redacted the identities of any innocent people included in the records.

    What we do know is that some police officers have been fired after internal investigations. But that's all we are allowed to know. We do not know anything about those who should have been fired or charged who were not, for whatever reason.

    We have on several occasion, requested to review the original complaints filed by citizens with both BCSO and WPD. Denied!

    Washington did provide us with a summary table that shows the number of complaints and the broad categories of disposition. The Sheriff's Office refuses to provide even the numbers.

    The District Attorney says he has no power to investigate based on public complaints. He can only investigate if a law enforcement agency brings him a case. Only then can he involve the Grand Jury. And imagine this, he says he hardly ever gets any charges brought against law enforcement officers. Yet the rumors persist. Almost weekly we get some kind of contact from a citizen complaining about law enforcement behavior, ranging from being involved in drug trafficking, confiscation of "evidence" by officers with no charges ever being filed, stops without probable cause, trumped up probable cause...all the way to speeding on busy streets/highways by deputies not responding to a call (no blue lights/siren).

    We suspect a whitewash went on in Wilmington. We are also suspicious about why they targeted these "ladies." And frankly, we don't expect much to come from the SBI investigation. Here in Beaufort County, Chickengate showed us how the SBI operates. It's now been five years and they still have not released the original letter that precipitated the Chickengate imbroglio.

    This is Sunshine Week. That's a gimmick used by the media to call attention of the need for transparency in government. And nowhere is that needed more than in law enforcement. Most (99%) law enforcement officers are hardworking, honest, dedicated public servants. But not all are. Some are prejudiced against certain people. Others have a mental disorder about power. And some simply make mistakes.

    The worst part is that we don't know. The public neither has access to the factual information needed to assess law enforcement operations nor is there an external review mechanism that represents the public's interest in oversight of people who are entrusted with immense power by the people.

    So we'll tell you what we think the problem is. In the City of Washington it is the City Manager. In Beaufort County it is the Board of Commissioners--and by extension the County Manager.

    The WPD Police Chief is an employee under the direct line of authority of the City Manager, just like the other department heads. The Sheriff is different. He is elected by the people. But the Board of Commissioners control his budget. And they can delegate oversight to the County Manager.

    Here's what we think should be done:

    •   All complaints should be filed, reviewed and acted upon (record kept) by the City Manager and County Manager.

    •   There should be an appeal from the Manager's decision to an impartial review panel appointed by the City Council and Board of Commissioners with one of their members serving on the panel on a rotating basis.

    •   The Review Panel should investigate all complaints and if found to have probable cause that a policy, procedure or law has been violated it should be referred to the Sheriff or Police Chief for investigation and appropriate disposition. A record should be kept of the evidence gathered in the internal investigation and the record should be reviewed by the Review Panel.

    •   If the Review Panel determines that the complaint has been properly handled, the names/identifying information should be redacted and then made available for public inspection like any other public record.

    •   If the Review Panel determines that the complaint has not been properly handled the record should be referred to the City Manager and County Manager and to the City Council or Board of Commissioners for review.

    •   The Legislature should establish Investigative Grand Juries in each judicial district. These special Grand Juries should be empowered to investigate any public official or office upon the request of the City Manager, County Manager, City Council, County Commission or District Attorney. The special Grand Jury should have investigative support from the N. C. Attorney General's Office, including the SBI.

    And finally, prostitution and drugs should be decriminalized.

    We know. Conservatives don't think such things. But Libertarians do. And here is our reason for saying it. You can't eliminate it. What happened in Wilmington is analogous to the city giving the fire department a case of 16 oz. water bottles in the place of a fire truck. Or a box of Band-Aids to the EMS department. The cure is worse than the problem, if for no other reason than that it causes us to ignore the real problem and solutions, because we think five cops offering a woman $1,400 for sex is going to make a dent in the prostitution problem.