Hawaii Law Lets Police Have Sex With Prostitutes, Legal Exemption Allowed

A heated debate has been initiated by Honolulu police officers prompting lawmakers to allow undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, UK MailOnline reported.

Claiming the exemption to be inappropriate and unnecessary, human trafficking experts and other police criticized the move as victimizing sex workers.

According to UK MailOnline, "Police haven't said how often - or even if - they use the provision. And when they asked legislators to preserve it, they made assurances that internal policies and procedures are in place to prevent officers from taking advantage of it."

"It doesn't help your case, and at worst you further traumatize someone. And do you think he or she is going to trust a cop again?" asked Marsh, trainer in best practice on human trafficking cases.

Originally written to scrap the sex exemption for officers on duty, a Hawaii bill cracking down on prostitution was amended to restore that protection after police testimony, UK MailOnline reported.

The state House passed the revised proposal and a Senate committee will look at it on Friday. Whether similar provisions are in place elsewhere as state law or department policy has not yet been clear.

"Police abuse is part of the life of prostitution," said Melissa Farley, the executive director of the San Francisco-based group Prostitution Research and Education.

To keep from being arrested, "women who have escaped prostitution" commonly report being coerced into giving police sexual favors in places without such protections, Farley said.

Claiming that sex exemption protects investigations, Honululu police said during recent testimony that it should remain in place, UK MailOnline reported.

"The procedures and conduct of the undercover officers are regulated by department rules, which by nature have to be confidential," Honolulu Police Maj. Jerry Inouye told the House Judiciary Committee. "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."

The proposal was amended by Democratic state Rep. Karl Rhoads, the committee chairman, after hearing police testimony.

"It's a really murky area," said Rhoads, who represents a district that includes Honolulu's Chinatown, a longstanding epicenter of street prostitution. "I was reluctant to interfere in something that they face all the time. If they think it's necessary to not have it in the statute, this is one area where I did defer to them and say, 'I hope you're not having sex with prostitutes.'"