In the Age of Terror, Isn't Busting Toe-Tappers an Insane Use of Our Law Enforcement Resources?
In the consensus judgment of America's 16 intelligence agencies, the terrorist threat to our homeland is "persistent and evolving," placing our country in "a heightened threat environment."
Given that chilling assessment, isn't it the height of madness to use America's finite law enforcement resources to seek out and arrest people for tapping the foot of a cute undercover officer in a restroom?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not wild about walking into a public restroom and seeing a couple using the a stall for something other than, as Sgt. Dave Karsnia, the arresting officer in the Craig case put it, "its intended use."
But that is not what Larry Craig did. If he had, someone in the restroom could have done what most people do when they see a law being broken: go get a cop.
And as it happens, since Craig was arrested in an airport, presumably there were plenty of law enforcement officers nearby looking for, you know, real threats -- like explosives or folks on a Watch List. Assuming, that is, they weren't all hunkered down in other bathrooms across the airport, protecting the public against people who might be thinking about having sex.
Let me be clear: I'm no fan of Larry Craig. Indeed, I disagree with almost everything he stands for. And I'd much rather he not be in the United States Senate. But I'd also rather have had his exit be the result of his constituents voting on his ideas and policies, instead of a ridiculous sting operation in an airport bathroom.
At least it's nice to see that, while the cable networks have been giving the incident their usual nuanced treatment, bloggers across the political spectrum have taken a step back to look at the real issues here.
Garance Franke-Ruta of The American Prospect asks: "Was there anything criminal about Sen. Larry Craig's gestures if they suggested a desire for consensual lewd behavior of some kind with the man in the adjacent restroom stall?" Her answer: no.
Conservative University of Minnesota law professor Dale Carpenter, blogging at the Volokh Conspiracy, agrees with her:
"Disorderly conduct is a notoriously nebulous crime, allowing police wide discretion in making arrests and charges for conduct or speech that is little more than bothersome to police or to others."
As Carpenter and Franke-Ruta both point out, soliciting someone to have sex with you is not a crime in Minnesota. If Craig had solicited someone, which then led to a round of bathroom sex, then yes, arrest them. But that's not what happened.
It's unsettling that more people here in the land of the free aren't at all discomfited at leaving it up to the prognostication skills of Sgt. Karsnia and his crack team of B-men to determine what crimes people might have committed if not for the mind-reading and daring-do of Minneapolis' Special Forces Bathroom Unit.
Conservative pundit Mark Steyn thinks that Craig was up to no good, but says, "Karsnia sounds just as weird and creepy: a guy who's paid to sit in a bathroom stall for hours on end observing adjoining ankles. I'd rather hand out traffic tickets."
But beyond them being weird and creepy, these kinds of stings also have a huge opportunity cost to them. There clearly are very serious potential threats to our safety to be found in airports -- outside of bathroom stalls. Is sending Sgt. Karsnia into the men's room to spend all day trying to get other men to look at him and tap his foot really the best way to use our limited law enforcement resources?
And just how much money is Minneapolis/St. Paul spending on sting operations like this one? Just since May, 40 men have been arrested on allegations of illegal sexual activity at the same airport. And how much taxpayer money in total is being allocated across the country by local police to protect us from people whom the Sgt. Karsnias of the world think might, at some point, commit a crime?
We at HuffPost are working to pull these numbers together by calling local police departments all across America, since the numbers don't seem to be readily available. We'd love your help on this; please send us any figures or worthwhile information you can find (post them in the comments section below or email max@huffingtonpost.com).
Here's another question to ask: does the Minneapolis police force look around its members for officers they think might be attractive to gay men? Or do they specifically search out recruits who would make good undercover "twinks," "bears," and "silver foxes"?
And, yes, I know, Sen. Craig pleaded guilty. But given the inevitable humiliation that would have ensued had he challenged this arrest, it's not hard to imagine that he felt he had no other choice. The same goes for the thousands of other men who have been snared in these wasteful sting operations.
But those of us who prefer that our public servants go after actual lawbreakers rather than use our resources to humiliate gay people do have a choice. And we should make it clear that we want our police going after terrorists -- not toe-tappers.
Since the news about Craig broke, the media focus has been on his sexual perversions -- it's time to turn the spotlight on the perverted priorities of America's law enforcement community.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Thank you! This is what I , as a queer person, have been trying to tell the LGBT community all along. At what point do we have to be afraid to make extended eye contact with a hot guy in fear he might be a cop ready to arrest us for our "intent" to do it? This is scary. And there are new laws being proposed that would allow the government to get the personal information of anyone using "adult social networking websites." Ever since sodomy was legalized, the government will stop at nothing to stop gay men from getting off.
With apologies, if necessary, to any of the other 650+ commenters I don't have time to read through and who might have said the same thing I am suggesting here, re: use/misuse of police:
Such behaviour in a public restroom is in poor taste to say the least, and illegal in some cases depending on how far it goes. However, if use of taxpayer-funded law enforcement is the main issue here we can discuss without getting into homophobia, why can't the police in Minneapolis (and everywhere else these stings are used) put a uniformed presence there, which I guarantee you will eliminate the problem? The illegal activity stops immediately, and police hours and the courts are free from using more of our tax money to process and try the individuals in question. As much as I want to see decency and respect as the norm for all people who use public accomodations (as in, nobody should have to be subjected to this public lewdness if they don't wish to be), I do think there is an element of chilling zealousness on the part of law enforcement when using undercover tactics to arrest these men. it gives me the same queasy feeling I get when I watch a fabricated "newsworthy" program like NBC's "To Catch a Predator." Without the enticement, how can one be sure the person nabbed was going to really commit a crime? This applies even to Sen. Craig (whom I loathe). make it known that police are around, and you won't have men using that place for pickups.
Having been in and out of that airport too many times to mention and living in Minneapolis, I can tell you that bathroom needed some policing. I have finally had to just avoid it alltogether due to the many times I've seen two men getting it on in some form there. Generally I'm thinking "not a big deal" if that is there thing but I wouldn't want a minor walking into that situation.
It was just a temporary crackdown due to many complaints, not a regular patrol. The Senator just picked a bad time to fly through.
Well! I would agree if this was just a "phishing" operation but it is not. This restroom was considered a "Hot spot" well known and advertized on many gay porn websites. This sting operation was in response to numerous complaints from the public.
I personally could care less who has sex with who but I do care where and a public bathroom is unacceptable. Thankfully local law enforcement can still be depended on to do their jobs inspite of the fact of terrorism. Geez! if we only focus on terror and allow our public restrooms etc. to become lurid sex palaces...
Foot tapping should not be taken too lightly.
During WW II. agents used to tap their toes in bathrooms sending out Morse signals to their contacts in the next stall.
Toe tapping in bathrooms could also signal the sign of a severe case of constipation. Loosening the blockage is helped by stamping your feet, or, tapping your toes. No longer the latter.
In colder climes, sitters should lift their feet off the deck to save them any embarrassment which could occur when rattling their freezing toes against the concrete floor.
Arianna...
Saw you on Dan Abrams last night trying to get a word in edgewise. I agree on this subject. We need to have our Police help to Police the War on Terror.
Oh Arianna! Craig is a disgusting little turd. If I were in Minnesota, I would be proud that my tax dollars helped expose the little creep.
If there were a man standing at the door of the women's bathroom, peeking in and asking ladies for sex as they went in or out, you would want him arrested.
Complaints are WHY the officer was public restroom protection - including minors.
Craig's guilty plea was 2 months later!
He's upcoming election toast!
Who spreads legs INTO next stall & picks up paper from restroom floor?!! A new catchphrase: "I have a wide stance."
Vargas/Washington Post:
For feared gay blogger Rogers, Craig's resignation is the latest on his list.
A Rogers call - "Are you gay?" is "a call from Satan himself!"
"If you're against gay rights in public life & live a secret homosexual life, all bets are off.
He's targeted then-Virginia congressman SCHROCK because of his voting record on gays in the military, same-sex marriage & gay adoption.
In October, he targeted Craig -- before an undercover sting, the three-term senator voted FOR the amendment bannning same-sex marriage. It's "hate-filled hypocrisy.
"I write about closeted people whose records are anti-gay, if you don't bash gays or vote against gay rights, I won't out you."
It's the double standard. . . . Take Vitter, on D.C. madam's list, but Craig pleaded guilty to a crime. That's not why they're throwing him under the bus, but the other "h" word: "homophobic!"
Rogers activism began when Republican
Should we feel compassion for a 62-year-old man who seeks anonymous encounters because he can't come to terms with who he is?
When Rogers posted Gurley's Gay.com profile on his blog, the GOP fired Gurley, left DC.
In the U.S. military & you're charged with being gay or lesbin, your life's ruined. You're at risk for death, physical violence.
And there's Craig . . . Veterans Affairs Committee CHAIRMAN - not allowing gays military service!
Page 193 - "The Book of Questions: Business, Politics and Ethics": "How much right do we have to know of elected official's private lives?"
Rogers: "WHEN THOSE PRIVATE LIVES ARE IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH PUBLIC POLICY OFFICIALS ESPOUSE,IT'S FAIR GAME THEIR PRIVATE LIVES ARE EXPOSED!
Don't beat up the gay community, expecting double-life protection!
“All politics is local”. Constituents complained about this WC being a busy place for gay pick-ups (wasn’t it promoted on Craig’s List?). The city responded by sending in an undercover cop. It is a local quality-of-life issue. You might consider it banal compared to commandos in flack jackets, but not inane by any measure.
The obscenity lies not in airport restrooms but at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
We must sting them in the men's room so they don't follow us home.
What I mean is, what if this hadn't been a police sting, but instead one where a foreign operative who knew of Craig's proclivities targeted the Senator and got the goods on him, so to speak, in the men's room. Given events of the last few months, how many compromised public officials could there be?
America's public restrooms -- at the forefront of our national defense priorities.
It was my understanding that parents had been complaining for some time that their kids were being approached in the airport bathrooms and solocited for sex. The airport security was responding to those concerns when they apprehended Craig.
--"But those of us who prefer that our public servants go after actual lawbreakers rather than use our resources to humiliate gay people do have a choice. And we should make it clear that we want our police going after terrorists -- not toe-tapper
Yes and No, Arianna.
As we already know, the majority of gay folks don't seek out sex in bathrooms. The 70's, the 80's and maybe the 90's some of us had to resort to bathrooms for sexual encounters and thankfully it was usually in a Gay bar.
Now for Craig, in the eyes of the Right-wing Nutjobs, he has been a very bad, bad, naughty boy and they need to make an example of him. As far as the Police are concerned, I agree with the majority of your post but was the documentation and need to have a a "sting operation" based on a legitimate concen? So I look forward to seeing the results of your research. i have to agree with your assesment that more than likely, these types of operations lean more towards a form of homophobia versus protecting society from sexual deviants.
There are way too many comments here moralizing on whether the behavior is appropriate or not. Clearly, they miss the whole point.
The sting of a bathroom must cost tens of thousands of dollars in man hours, equipment (transportation to jail, etc.)
The thing about a sting though, is that it doesn't stop the behavior, because people don't know the sting is going on. It arrests a few people, as soon as the cops leave more come in.
Installing a camera or a guard/attendant WOULD stop the problem. And save millions of dollars.
And then all these people can continue their moralistically high pontificating and finger pointing.
Why are there so many comments to this post? That says a lot about what makes people tick and this country. No wonder the media covered it so closely.
I was going through an old box of cds yesterday and found the old Michael Jackson "Thriller" album an put it on. Took me back to a more pleasant time when I didn't know about his pedophile tendencies or the freak-on behavior of any other public figure for that matter.
Why has everyone forgotten the Utah mining disaster? They still haven't found the six trapped miners and Mr. Murray is now refusing to participate in a federal congressional investigation. What's going on with that?
Who cares about Senator Craig. He got what he deserved in the end. And I'm happy at least one police officer is dealing with bathroom cruising. As a mother, I certainly do not want my child witnessing anything like that in a public bathroom.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
