31 Dec 07 A Topless Policewoman and Her Bust

I’m more than a little puzzled. This ABC story gives a brief example of a new tactic being used by police everywhere:

Robin Garrison, an off-duty 42-year-old firefighter, was walking in Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio, in May when he saw a woman sunbathing topless under a tree.

He approached her and they started talking and getting comfortable, the woman smiling and resting her foot on his shoulder at one point. Eventually, she asked to see Garrison’s penis; he unzipped his pants and complied.

Seconds later, undercover police officers pulled up in a van and arrested Garrison.

How is this not entrapment? Or this?

In New York City, nearly 300 people, many of whom had no criminal record, have been snared this year through the NYPD’s Operation Lucky Bag, in which undercover officers leave a wallet, iPod or cell phone in a subway station and wait to see who picks it up.

The article indicates that Garrison was found guilty of public indecency, but went on to mention one person arrested under “Operation Lucky Bag” where the NYPD was found to have entrapped the defendant.

Supposedly, it’s not:

“The definition of entrapment is police activity that induces somebody to commit a crime that they otherwise wouldn’t do,” said Gabriel Chin, law professor at the University of Arizona. “It’s not entrapment to give somebody an opportunity to commit a crime.”

Chin explains that entrapment involves an officer cajoling and persuading someone who’s resistant to the idea of committing a crime. “Just preying on a predisposition is not necessarily entrapment.”

But the professor goes on to say:

“You could ask whether it’s an appropriate use of police resources. If we really want to criminalize people who do what we don’t want them to do, a lot of people would be in jail.”

This is … nuts. And a symptom of the “new America” we find ourselves in.

I must admit, I’m feeling a bit clever about that title.