Note that the sting in CR was set up in a private residence, not a hotel.  

if your going to a private residence, check out who lives there first...

I also thought I heard it was set-up through BP.  I know we will never know but I'm wondering what ad or ads the accused responded to?  I think it just proved what numerous people have said on the board, always see always see well reviewed providers.

I feel for him, he's stands to lose everything.

I live in CR. Didn't realize this was a huge issue.  So what if consenting adults are having fun behind closed doors.  No mention of minors or kids or pimps, so what is the big deal?  I guress since you cannot control the REAL crime, you know, the punks and street thugs who make you not want to walk around at night, might as well create some crime of your own.  I wonder how many resources were used to bust 10 people who otherwise were likely law-abiding citizens?

Amen to that.  Had it been something like roughing up a suspect (what we call assault), he would have been decorated.  Or maybe a 30-day suspension for DWI and nothing for a speeding ticket.  But prostitution has such a bad rap, this guy will likely never serve in LE again, and what is sad is that he very well might have been a good cop.  (I don't know, and I don't know him.)  WOnder if he ever had any similar stings in Robbinsdale though.

http://www.hennepin.us/residents/property/property-information-search

blew away a 22 year old kid for burglury and fleeing police. Even if their story is 100% true, I can't think of a reason to bring two weapons into a basement, especially when you already have two armed colleagues to back you up. Controlling one gun is hard enough. A machine pistol hanging from a sling is the utter worst because it'll fall all over the place, maybe right into the other guy's hands if you're leaning over him trying to cuff him.

I've heard of this occasionally; LE has gone to the trouble and expense of renting a place to use to run stings.  An even larger waste of taxpayer dollars in my opinion.

...by arresting them for getting their rocks off or for smoking pot. Shame on him! But it proves that Karma will get ya in the end. I heard that MOA is hiring security guards

Karma judgments are in the eye of the judge, don't you think there are many that will say Karma got even with him because he hobbies?  We should not be passing judgement on him.  IMO it's never a happy day when a fellow hobbyist gets busted, even if he's a cop or prosecutor. We are ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, the rest of the world has or will cast him aside, we should not.

...he SUCKS big time and no hobbyist should ever condone his actions he's made against the hobby.

....ran a department with excess force issues as there are 3 recent cases.  Him being a victim of karma?  Yeah, I'm all for that.

Good luck with that white pages search .  Nobody under the age of 60 has a LAN line.  County property and city property records buddy.

It was the only add on BP  that didn't specify no black males.

LE has not been in the business of "To protect and serve" for a long time now.  It's about making money.  They are not worried about taking criminals off the street, they are worried about how they can collect fines.  They will spend the money to set up a trap because its an investment and they will get a return on it through fines and court cost. Whereas other types of criminals will just sit in county and cost money.  It's better to bust those that can pay.
 

...Yes, some may say karma got even with him because he tried to have paid sex, but I suspect most will not see it as a  "hobby" issue, they see a cop who is sworn to uphold the law violate it, a case of simple hypocrisy.

I agree,  prostitution is the only reason I would go to Coon Rapids and I think the CR police should realize that this is the only tourism that's going to occur in a city where every home has 5 cars parked in the front yard (currently in competition with Anoka for city with the most cars in the front yard award).  They should also change the freaking hillbilly name they have.  Yea ,  the first settlers saw coons down by the rapids so they named it coon rapids. Brilliant!!

There are many...you can walk into a trap or do the best homework you can.

Most stings are set up to protect and justify budgets and to serve political aspirations

Him being a hobbyist (if he is/was) doesn't mean his 9-5 goes away.   I don't like that they come after hobbyists and providers but pretty sure they all take an oath and have someone higher than them telling them what to do.

On one hand, maybe his policies encouraged cracking down on prostitution in which case I have no sympathy for him
On the other hand, maybe he did the bare minimum and only went after prostitution when the departments received complaints which he could not ignore.  As much as I am against P4P laws so long as it involves consenting adults, I understand sometimes there are situations the cops cannot ignore no matter how much they may want to.
And there is a whole range of possibilities in between.

-- Modified on 3/23/2014 3:15:22 PM

...as a cop, he's still behaving in an unethical way. He's the Police Chief. There's no one higher than him telling him what to do. He initiates investigations, raids and arrests. I'm sure no arrest goes to the DA for prosecution without his final signoff and approval. An officer of the law retains certain rights of the office and obligations even after 5 pm like bearing a concealed weapon and the ability to make arrests. I can certainly understand if you have a cop for a client why you might want to hedge on condemning him but, for the rest of us, he's either a cop or he's not. He certainly can choose another profession if his professional ethics collide with his personal beliefs.

...that does change the equation!  He was not a low level officer just following orders when his department arrested johns and harassed small business owners.  I've got a friend who owns a business in Robbinsdale and told me today that this guy made it a point to try and drive out independent liquor stores because, yeah you got it, Robbinsdale also has a muni that this dumb ass used to run.  He also had several prostitution crackdowns back when CL was up.  Nope he is a bad one and a first class hypocrite.  He deserves no defense on this board IMHO.

-- Modified on 3/23/2014 5:09:48 PM

I've been very critical of anti-prostitution laws and those people in LE who diligently enforce them (outside of human trafficking and the like) and my view there has not changed.  But there are also plenty of cops who enforce laws I think we are all happy to have such as murder, rape, assault, theft, etc.  At a certain point, you are going to get officers in the chain of command who have authority over both anti-prostitution investigations and other types of LE that we are happy to have.  At that point, it is not necessarily obvious how we should view such people.  There are cops who regard anti-prostitution laws as stupid and a waste of time.

Coon Rapids does have a mayor and a city council, afterall.  Who do you think hires the chief of police?  Not only that but he has the citizens of CR to answer to.  I agree that we should not "feel sorry" for him necessarily but neither do I think he should be condemned just because of his job.    

I heard that police can have SEX with providers before they make an arrest, and this procedure is
now in the courts system. Can you imagine that??

Chances are you will not be able to cross check the address, they would hide property ownership.
However this is again an unverified provider, very dangerous in my book. If they don't have a track
record forget it, I am out!

Also, which ad did they used?  I remember seeing a few that says northern burb, and I almost answered because the chick was kinda hot. It was too far for me anyway.

...the city council president and the elected city council hires and fires the city Chief of Police but they don't set policy. The mayor in small town Minnesota wields very little independent power unlike in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Police Chief sets his or her own agenda and gets a yearly reassessment of their performance. The city council and president decide whether or not to renew the police chief's contract and their decision is based on the perceived performance of the local PD. The local Police Chief doesn't seek approval from the City Council  before initiating stings or busts; it's his or her own decision to go forward, hopefully after running it by the city attorney.

If I remember correctly the police officers are fighting to keep it legal to continue doing so.  Good work if you can get it.  And in Hawaii no less.  Sorry gotta go,  final boarding call for my Hawaiian Airlines flight.

Tony Palumbo must be running for higher office.

You would think that a veteran cop like he was, even if he had no vice squad experience, would know enough not to fall into a typical sting.  It makes me wonder if there is more to this story.

http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?MessageID=194409&boardID=21&page=1#194409

apartment in Coon Rapids, was a Thursday in February, and they nabbed 11 guys. The price  was  
$150. This is all in local news story.