Hawaii Lets On-Duty Cops Have Sex With Prostitutes, And Police Want To Keep It That Way

By Scott Kaufman
The Raw Story
Mar. 21, 2014

Police officers in Hawaii are lobbying lawmakers not to repeal a statute that allows them to have sex with prostitutes during the course of legitimate investigations.

Authorities claim that they need the legal protection afforded them by penal code statute §712-1200.5, which states that the legal definition of prostitution — “[a] person commits the offense of prostitution if the person engages in, or agrees or offers to engage in, sexual conduct with another person for a fee” — does “not apply to any member of a police department, a sheriff, or a law enforcement officer acting in the course and scope of duties.”

Honolulu Police Major Jerry Inouye recently told the House Judiciary Committee that “[t]he procedures and conduct of the undercover officers are regulated by department rules, which by nature have to be confidential, because if prostitution suspects, pimps and other people are privy to that information, they’re going to know exactly how far the undercover officer can and cannot go.”

He declined, however, to indicate how often the exemption is used.

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