cw: sexual abuse by police

NYPD’s Vice Squad must be disbanded. Sex work must be decriminalized. These disturbing police actions, including sexual abuse and the secret recordings of targeted people, demand an investigation.

Must read from @propublica: https://www.propublica.org/article/nypd-cops-cash-in-on-sex-trade-arrests-with-little-evidence-while-black-and-brown-new-yorkers-pay-the-price

The NYPD Vice Squad coerces people into sex, orchestrates arrests after they have been gratified, separates families, takes humiliating pictures and secret recordings of victims, entraps New Yorkers, and disproportionately targets Black, Brown, & Asian people for arrest.

@jbsapien and @js_kaplan’s reporting exposes a deeply rotten culture endemic to NYPD’s Vice Squad of degradation, false arrests, racist targeting, and sex abuse all in the name of squeezing more overtime pay.

This squad must be abolished.

“These arrests are based almost entirely on the word of cops, who say they are incentivized to round up as many ‘bodies’ as they can.”

@propublica's data analysis shows: almost everyone arrested in the last four years is nonwhite, 89% of the 1,800 charged with prostitution; 93% of the 3,000 accused of trying to buy sex.

Statements from current and former NYPD officers are disturbing and a sign of a culture of impunity and sexist dehumanization:

One former cop laughed as he said, “The undercover can have a nice, cold beer and watch a girl take her clothes off — & he’s getting paid for it.”

The notorious abuses of an undercover cop known only as “UC-157” epitomize the nature of the Vice Squad. He is known to engage in sexual conduct with his victims while orchestrating their arrests. He uses exploitative, abusive, and coercive tactics that lead to lasting harm.

A secret audio recording listened to by ProPublica is a window into the reality of his abusive behavior.

He attempts to enter a single mother’s home, pounding on the door and demanding sex. She says "no" more than 12 times, while her baby cries in the background.

Under duress, she eventually gives in. A backup team storms into her apartment and arrests her. ACS removed her children and she lost custody for two months, compounding her violation by the police with the trauma of a family separation. Her case was sealed and dismissed.

Her attorney, @BklynDefender's Jillian Modezelski said: “The fact that these secret tapes exist means that the NYPD has broken the law by concealing evidence. This revelation demands an investigation.”

In addition to major abuses, this unit regularly inflicts significant harm during daily operations. Arresting people for false or manufactured crimes, such as stopping to ask an undercover for directions, is routine and financially incentivized behavior for Vice officers.

@NYCMayor has expressed support for stopping the arrests of sex workers, while continuing to criminalize the promotion & purchase of services. This model stigmatizes & criminalizes many parts of the sex work industry & continues to put people who engage in sex work at grave risk.

Real change means disbanding the Vice Squad, which has engaged in abusive policing for decades, ending arrests for sex work, and decriminalizing the sale, purchase and promotion of sexual services.