Civil Beat is running a series on prostitution and HPD this week...

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It is a four part series based on over a years worth of investigation and it is astounding both from a Hawaii resident viewpoint and from that of a feminist, or indeed even a decent human being. If you've ever doubted before that HPD maintains a choke hold over civil life in Honolulu by selectively enforcing the law this series is for you.

I'm posting it also in Good Reads to get more exposure because the reporting is that good and the story is important: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101619124

The Story Behind Our "Cops, Prostitutes and Pimps" Series
By John Temple 03/12/2012

As a tourism mecca and with its history of importing agricultural workers, concern about human trafficking in Hawaii has run high in recent years.

We've seen accusations against Maui Land and Pineapple and the botched prosecution of the owners of Aloun Farms on Oahu. This year, the nation's largest human trafficking case ever will be prosecuted in Honolulu.

The issue surfaced prominently when Civil Beat launched in May 2010. That spring saw the Hawaii Legislature unanimously pass human trafficking legislation that was uniformly opposed by law enforcement and ultimately vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle.

We decided then to make human trafficking in Hawaii a coverage focus, and Assistant Editor Sara Lin and other reporters began investigating the issue. To say it wasn't easy is an understatement. While we could cover labor trafficking by following trials, we found an almost total lack of cooperation from the Honolulu Police Department when it came to trying to understand sex trafficking.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/12/15148-the-story-behind-our-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-series/

Part 1 of 4:

By Sara Lin 03/12/2012

Want to hire a prostitute in Honolulu and get away with it? Do it on a Saturday.

A Civil Beat investigation of 12 months' worth of prostitution arrests shows that there is virtually no enforcement of prostitution laws on weekends.

In one year's time, Honolulu police made no prostitution arrests on Saturdays and just two arrests on a Sunday, and both of those were on the same day at the same location. That's no prostitutes, johns or pimps arrested on the busiest night of the week. Police made a total of 214 arrests in a 12-month period, with weekends making up less than 1 percent of those arrests. Instead, the majority of all prostitution arrests took place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Honolulu police refused repeated requests for an interview and would only answer questions via email. The department declined to say whether its 90 officers in narcotics and vice work on weekends.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/12/15147-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-no-arrests-on-a-saturday-in-honolulu/

Part 2 of 4:

Rita Coury

By Sara Lin 03/13/2012

In one year, Honolulu police made more than 200 prostitution arrests. But only one of those arrests involved a pimp — and he was never charged.

That finding comes from Civil Beat's investigation into how Honolulu police enforce Hawaii's prostitution laws. To determine the scope of sex trafficking in Honolulu, Civil Beat tracked prostitution arrests for one year through the daily booking log, a public document that lists basic information about every arrest on Oahu.

The Honolulu Police Department confirmed that it had arrested just one pimp in 2011. The department said it also arrested just one pimp in 2010.

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The lone pimp arrested in 2011 was Isaiah Black, 26, of Mililani. He was arrested for promoting prostitution on May 24, in Red Hill, a residential neighborhood adjacent to Tripler Medical Center. It was a Tuesday, minutes before midnight.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/13/15149-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-in-one-year-one-pimp-arrested/

[msongs]

1. sex workers + pimps + police = follow the $$ nt

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2. Cops, Prostitutes and Pimps: Honolulu Prostitution Arrests Declining

By Sara Lin 03/14/2012

Five years ago, vice officers with the Honolulu Police Department arrested prostitutes and johns at a rate of more than one a day. In 2007, police made 477 prostitution arrests.

But that number has declined dramatically in the years since: Police made less than half as many arrests in 2011 as they did five years ago, a Civil Beat investigation found.

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The maximum fine for someone convicted of a petty misdemeanor in Hawaii is $1,000, but there's a legal exception made for johns, who face a lower mandatory fine of $500. Convicted first-offender johns also face up to 30 days in jail. But most first time offenders take what's known as a Deferred Acceptance of Guilty Plea or Nolo Contendere Plea. In most cases, this means charges will be dismissed and removed from their record after six months so long as the defendant stays out of trouble.

The law does not discriminate between johns and prostitutes. The police arrest log lists only the charge administered, and does not indicate whether an arrestee was a prostitute or customer.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/14/15150-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-honolulu-prostitution-arrests-declining/

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3. Cops, Prostitutes and Pimps: Arrests Turn Up No Trafficking Victims

By Sara Lin 03/15/2012

Honolulu is one of 39 cities around the country that has a federally-funded task force to investigate human trafficking. But a Civil Beat analysis of every prostitution arrest made in the last year reveals not one sex trafficking victim.

In other words, either Honolulu doesn't have a sex trafficking problem — or local law enforcement isn't doing enough to investigate it.

A Civil Beat probe into how the Honolulu Police Department enforces prostitution laws shows the department made 214 arrests in a 12-month period. That included 118 women and 96 men.

Yet Honolulu City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro says as far as he knows, none of those arrested was later discovered to be a victim of human trafficking.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/15/15152-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-arrests-turn-up-no-trafficking-victims/

This is the final installment in the series.

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4. Cops, Prostitutes and Pimps: Honolulu Police Owes Public Answers

By The Civil Beat Editorial Board 03/16/2012

Honolulu police have built a wall of silence about their enforcement of Hawaii prostitution laws.

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It's unclear what Honolulu police think about the extent of sex trafficking on Oahu, a tourism crossroads. It's time they tell the public.

Police may like to keep their work close to the vest. And often that's understandable. But how we as a community approach the issue of modern-day slavery is a moral question that deserves public debate.

Police are doing the public's business and the public is entitled to know everything about what officers are doing that is not restricted by law.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/16/15235-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-honolulu-police-owes-public-answers/

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5. Cops, Prostitutes and Pimps: Prosecutor To Step Up Hunt For Traffickers

By Sara Lin 03/20/2012

Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro says he hasn't seen any evidence that Hawaii has a widespread sex trafficking problem.

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"I'm not going to totally ignore the fact that there may not be a problem because there's no evidence," he told Civil Beat in an interview about its series, Cops, prostitutes and pimps. "We'll look at it. I'll assign deputies just to handle prostitution cases ... to see if there is a problem."

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FBI spokesman Tom Simon told Civil Beat the high cost of travel to Hawaii makes interstate sex trafficking a rare problem.

"While we have seen isolated instances of pimps coming to town with teenage prostitutes over the years, we do not believe that the interstate transportation of coerced sex workers into Hawaii is currently an epidemic," he said.

More: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/03/20/15275-cops-prostitutes-and-pimps-prosecutor-to-step-up-hunt-for-traffickers/