Is this fighting crime?
News broke today that police have busted four women for exposing themselves as part of a “Girls Gone Wild” event in Sanford Florida. This makes one wonder if this is actually crime fighting or is this another example of government waste on the part of the police? Now I know public exposure of ones private parts is illegal, but you have to ask, was anyone actually harmed in this event to warrant police involvement? What was the impact of the actual crime? Some people in a bar saw some boobs. Wow. So what? This is probably something most of the bar patrons were hoping to see that night anyways. If they weren’t hoping for it, they most likely considered it to be a bonus. Seeing this occurred in a bar, no children should have been exposed and I don’t think the merchandise put on display is anything the adults haven’t seen before anyways.
The police become involved after the club owner notified them of the event. This is an understandable move on the club’s part to cover their butt and protect themselves from from being mistakenly considered an adult establishment. But did this notification warrant police involvement? Not just any police involvement, but an undercover sting operation that involved a degree of planning and coordination. What I would like to know is how much taxpayer money was spent in the effort of protecting adult bar patrons form seeing boobs? Sure they busted a fight too, but could this have broken out due to the tension cause by the police buzz kill? Could the police involvement actually caused more harm than they prevented?
This just seems like more government waste triggered by the enforcement of laws in situations that cause no harm to anyone. It’s important that we have laws like anti-nudity ordinances to protect us from seeing what can not be unseen while out for a stroll in the park. However, enforcement of laws should be tempered with the amount of harm it causes to people. If someone is violation the law but is causing no harm to anyone, then is it really worth prosecuting? Logically, it would be better to spend the time, money, and effort going after the criminals that are actually harmful to society.
I’d love to see the cost/benefit breakdown of stings like this. How many crimes (DUI, home invasions, etc.) when unchecked during the time the police were pre-occupied with women exposing themselves? Then again, maybe I answered my own question… I’m sure this is a far more interesting assignment to the police than a burglary. Doesn’t that make you feel safe?
