I'm an active member of Law Enforcement, and I think that @PODarkness and some others of you have the wrong idea about those of us that might partake in this "Hobby". The overwhelming majority of us don't spend every working hour trying to hunt down people who might occasionally break a rule or two. We spend our time trying to keep society safe from dangerous people and hazardous things. Despite this people often seem to get the misconception that we are trying to get them.
I have come across several providers on this board in the course of my working day (actually nights), and never given a single one of them trouble. I do work hard to discourage streetwalkers to stay away from my neighborhoods, because they CAUSE trouble. I have also removed providers from hotels, but only because they were creating dangerous situations. You don't want to see a lady who has an armed thug waiting for her in the parking lot do you? With knives, (sometimes) guns, and / or vicious dogs. Does removing and confronting these dangerous (and typically) felons make me a sociopath?
I would never use my position to gain an advantage, or hurt a provider trying to make an honest living. I am a professional, and any Cop who would take advantage of a provider with threats is no brother of mine.The only time I've had a real conflict was when I learned that a young, beautiful but drama filled and crazy, provider was being treated for a life threatening STD. I tried to post that info on another board (ASPD?), but had it edited out by the moderator. I hope no one who could have avoided it was infected.
I've seen providers in my area who had no idea, and have since given me references. When I've seen them in uniform they had no idea, because a lot of people tend to lump us all in together without seeing us as the individuals that we are. I have had to pass on some well reviewed providers because they work too close to me, and I see no benefit for either of us to be uncomfortable. I have let some providers know, but only when I was in Vegas where they knew that I had no jurisdiction. They were cool with it and we had fun. I have seen (and enjoyed) a provider who posted some unpleasant things in this thread.
I apologize for rambling a bit here, but I have seen the good, bad and ugly. And I'll bet I would enjoy that BDSM session.... Originally Posted by commed222
I wanted to respond to this tell you that I appreciated you speaking up in this thread.
Unfortunately, just like with any organization, be it the police, the church, or a school district, there are those that gravitate towards those jobs so that they can exploit the power that comes with the job, and the people they're supposed to help. Catholic priests don't sexually abuse nuns and children because they're Catholic priests. Rapists and child molesters would see the priesthood as a good way to get what they wanted with the least risk. I've known many women who's opinion I've trusted have really bad run ins with police officers and I doubt it was because the women were mouthing off or being a danger--no doubt brutes with anger issues gravitate towards being a police officer. But you know who else gravitates towards being a police officer? Those who want to actually help society. I'm sure we can all see that, it's just a question of who (depending on who we've run into) holds the majority share in the police or the organization: the exploiters or the helpers.
Luckily, in many of my daytime jobs, I've had to deal hand in hand with police officers and other support personnel from ambulance & hospital staff to firefighters. These are jobs that are filled mostly with a lot of tedium punctuated by blasts of stressful frenzy. You also have to keep in mind that a lot of it is thankless, filled with mind-numbing paperwork, and it puts a lot of stress on your personal relationships because of the hours at work, or the situations that one might not be willing to tell their significant other because they just aren't dinner table conversation. I digress.
Back when I was a dancer, one of the most heartaching memories I had was dancing for a man who worked for vice (I wheedled it out of him as he didn't want to tell me what he did for fear it would make me uncomfortable.) Looking at the hard planes of his face, and the big walking coiled up ball of stress that he was, not to mention I could tell he needed more time in the sun and a few more square meals, like most workaholics I've known-- I was very saddened by how isolating his job was.
Guess who else has an isolating job? Us.
Have a little compassion even if you're not willing to see them yourselves. I'm not willing to see newbies because I see them as a security risk, but that doesn't mean I don't have compassion for how tough it must be starting out.
So it's rather obvious that don't be stupid and triple-screen, but also don't lump all the men and women on the police force into one group of hobby-hating, brutalizing exploiters.
No doubt most of them would rather be chasing down child molesters and crack producers (though, no doubt, busting providers and johns must be kind of nice since depending on the level there's probably less risk of gunplay.) There's a lot of political bullshit that cops have to deal with, and it's likely not them who wants to bust the hobby people, but their boss who in turn needs to help the mayor look good.
