I'm relatively new to the hobby and I've been thinking about how I'm going to deal with the two big risks of being a hobbyist. The first is the risk of STDs, with AIDS being the big scary one. I've been able to alleviate my fear of that one by educating myself as to how risky it actually it is, by always being safe (condoms, etc), by getting tested frequently, and yes, even by carrying around oral instant HIV test kits (you may think I'm crazy for that one).

The second big risk, is of course, the fear of law enforcement. No matter how careful you are, there is no way to know for sure if your favorite escort agency is being watched and the police may just decide and arrest you, whether you'd actually broken any laws or not. Even if the charges don't actually stick, the embarrassment of the arrest itself is enough to deter many.

One technique that I've read that local police in my area are using is to watch popular hotels for lone, well-dressed men who arrive a the hotel with no luggage, watch their cellphones, don't check in, and leave an hour or so later. The police will confront them on their way out and threaten to arrest them if they don't confess to what took place inside. In exchange for an account of what happened, and possible use as a witness later to testify against the provider, the police promise not to arrest the men. The men usually agree and are sent on their way, sometimes being summoned to later appear in court. The police have found they get more cooperation if they don't arrest the men.

I've been thinking about what I would do in such a situation. The police have no evidence of what took place. But they can certainly arrest you and you'll end up sitting in jail over night and have to go through all the hassle and expense of defending yourself. On the other hand, if you admit to what happened, there is no promise that the police won't just arrest you anyways, and now they have a confession. I'm not sure what is the right answer here. What would you do?

With LE, be polite but do not say or admit to anything.  Ask if you are under arrest, if not say that you are leaving and do so.

Do a search for STFU and watch the video TWICE!

Is this the one you mean?

Wow, there are instant oral HIV tests now?  I've GOT to get some!  Thanks for the tip

Joy

Think about it.

LE likes to make arrests, but likes to make arrests that are supported by evidence even more because if they do end up in front of a judge, arresting someone who walks for lack of any evidence is not going to sit well with that judge, and they may even be faced with a suit for false arrest.

As I have seen reported on the Legal Board by people who do say that they are lawyers, LE can only make an arrest on a misdeamenor if they actually witness the crime itself.  If LE violates that, they could be in for consequences.

On the other hand, if you have a perp who confesses, that is the gold standard. It's a clean collar.

The bottom line is:  STFU if you are confronted except to show ID.  Politely decline to answer any other questions by asserting your Fifth Amendment rights.

I think that in most cases, LE will toss you back in the pond and wait for a bigger fish to come along, or at least one that is more cooperative with them.

As for STDs, that is something to be more concerned with, but the risk is pretty low, especially for AIDS as long as you play safe and see quality providers.

(still not a lawyer)

LE interaction is only partially correct.  You assume LE has access both inside the hotel & outside observation.  Prostitution is going on in just about every hotel in America.  Providers & clients must learn to be discreet.
A lot of hourly traffic will stick out in a low volume hotel.  A "motel" type layout with individual outside doors is made to order for a stake out.  Ladies who are lower traffic, thus lower profile & use hotels with a busy lobby & conference center are much better for blending in.
Sitting outside a hotel waiting for the phone is a no-no.  In my experience, I need to locate the call point in advance, then I back track to the corner coffee shop...  retrace my steps to arrive about one minute before.  
Admiting to some violation they have no evidence of is certainly not in your best interest.  You do have to legally identify yourself & where to contact you.  Do not lie but do not give any sort of a statement without a lawyer.  Anything you do say will get twisted & used to try to trip you up.  If they contact you to come in later (very rare) get your atty to accompany you or meet at his office.
Flipping on a provider will not save you.  If they have the evidence, you'll get charged anyway.  LE can not bargain away charges, only prosecutors & get it in writing.  Sometimes, judges even throw out plea deals.  
The best defense is to simply decline to make a statement without legal representation.  Ask if you are free to go.  (If you are not free to go, you are being detained...  STFU!  Ask for atty.)  The sooner you remove yourself from LE gaze the better.
BTW, I try to park away from the lobby entrance.  I keep a sense of where I am in the hotel.  I find my way to the exit stairwell nearest my car (exit only) & don't go back through the lobby.  (Once I went down one floor, walked from the East wing to the West wing before hitting the correct stairs.) Even with my cane, going down stairs is not too difficult.
skb

Everyone doing this needs to have a discussion with themselves about their level of risk tolerance.  I won't spend much time on the STD angle because it has been covered to death and using condoms and common sense is as good as you can get next to abstaining all together.

Regarding L.E. the important points to remember are:
1)You have to identify yourself and your "residence" so they can ID you and find you later.
2)You do not have to say anything else and it is in your best interest to do exactly that. Do not lie, do not explain yourself, do not get cute with half truths.

Either they have enough to arrest you or they don't.  If they do then nothing you can say will help you avoid getting arrested and will only be used against you.  If they don't have enough to arrest you then anything you say just provides them more chances to find something to hold you on.  

I don't care if they bust in and find you balls deep in your lady of choice.  Keep your mouth shut, follow their instructions and force them to make all the assumptions because the more you make them do the more likely they'll make a mistake which can help you later.  Every word you utter is just fuel for the fire.

If you have serious concerns about being arrested or being embarrassed to contact friends or family to bail you out then consider preparing for the situation.  By this I mean go see a criminal defense attorney, pay them a consultation fee and set arrangements to have them bail you out if the situation arises.  Each one is different so the terms they require will vary and your criminal history, or lack of one, will play into their decision.  If you are a stable resident with a long standing job, no criminal history and your only vice is this hobby then the attorney may let you put your credit card on file with the understanding that if you get arrested they will come bail you out and charge your card for their time and the amount of the bail.  Some may require a monthly retainer to maintain this arrangement.  Just ask around your local legal community.

If you have such an arrangement already in place you will be much more likely to just exhibit self control under the duress of an arrest and just shut up and wait for your lawyer.  Your mind won't be racing trying to figure out what to do which is what leads to "criminals" hanging themselves with statements.

Some people may say that this is not that different than a bail bondsman but it doesn't require a friend or family member to go and be the surety for the bondsman and hence provides you with more privacy.  Also having "your" lawyer present CAN help you with making beneficial arrangements in exchange for immunity from prosecution etc, because the lawyer knows who you need to make the deal with.

I'd do a search on the Legal board, or for that matter this one, as your questions have been answered thousands of times previously, and very well in fact

good luck, enjoy the hobby!

Oral HIV kit that test for antibodies is not available over the counter. For the oral HIV test, you should go to your doctor or to a clinic that provides the service. Since HIV antibodies may not appear until six week to six months after infection and the peak HIV viral titer and transmission rate occur with one month after infections makes this test useless if you are planning to test you provider beforehand. I know of no other reason why you would carry around oral instant HIV test kits unless you plan to test the Provider.  Good Luck doing that!

-- Modified on 4/6/2010 3:00:04 PM

No, it really exists. It's not licensed for home use by the FDA because it is meant for use by health care professionals (in a clinic, for example). You can order them in bulk from a medical supply company, but they are not cheap (400-500$ for 25 or about $15-20 each. Look up "OraSure" or "OraQuick" online.

There is no instant HIV test approved for consumer use by the FDA, oral or blood or otherwise. The quick blood tests sold on the web mostly come from China and if they actually ever ship them to you at all, they rarely work and are notoriously inaccurate.

It's not available OTC, but it's really easy to buy the exact same test used in clinics on the internet (even amazon.com sells it!)

Yes, I am talking about testing the provider beforehand. It's true that they may have acquired the infection less than six weeks to six months before and may be contagious, but typically the acute phase of HIV infection when their viral load is the highest is accompanied by flu-like symptoms including a fever and presumably they wouldn't be working then. Yes, you won't be 100% they are HIV free but anything to reduce your risk is worth it, IMO.

Check out this article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/13/arresting_activity/

for more about what I am talking about.

spring this test kit on her once you've walked into the room for your appt?
If so you better bring two kits I'd expect you to test also. No reason at that point I'd be taking your word for it.
I am afraid that would also change the mood of an encounter and maybe not a good idea even more so than a gal counting the money in front of you seems to be a mood killer.
There are riskd here most certainly its just the way it is.

Less than 70% develop flu like symptoms. Any flu like symptoms are of short duration (usually last no more than several days)  compare to the latency period for developing enough antibodies to trigger a positive test.Afterward, the infected person returns to feeling and looking completely well and but still at the infectious peak .

The amazon Home Access HIV - 1 Express Test System  is a blood test not an oral test in which you send the sample in to get analyzed and results take several days.  Good luck getting a lady to allow you to "prick" her finger for a blood sample.

It is pretty clear in the article.

The men are caving in to the detectives and this in turn gives them probable cause to go after the provider.  The article even says the men may be served summons to testify OR FACE CHARGES later on.  It should be pretty obvious that talking to the police when confronted may get you out of short term trouble but it doesn't stop them from coming after you later once they have your confession.  The police are fishing and if the men would just refuse to make a statement it would force the detective's hand to either let them go or try to hold them on whatever information they already have.  Yes they know who you are, where you were and may have all sorts of hunches about what went on but without a statement from either you or the provider they are left with little else.  

If you decline to make a statement at the scene, they release you and then they call you later they may tell you if you don't come give your side of the story they'll have to file charges against you.  They may even try this if they just find your phone number on the provider's phone.  Still you should decline to talk, get their contact information and tell them you'll pass it along to your lawyer.  Once again you are forcing them to act on whatever info they already have instead of giving them anything new, which if it was good enough to arrest you they would likely not have bothered to call you and get a statement in the first place.  They'd have just come and arrested you.

If they go ahead and arrest you, once you've gotten your lawyer involved THEN is proper time to have your lawyer work a deal in exchange for immunity, arrest record expungement, etc.

The provider in the article has the right idea.  She refuses to talk, asks for her lawyer and cooperates with police otherwise.  Without the men's statements the police have little concrete info to give the DA to convict her with.

The biggest point to take away from all this is that if police are ASKING you for permission to take an action or for information then you can say no or remain silent.  If the police don't need your permission to search, take an action, etc they won't bother asking you, they'll just do it.  They only ask when they know, or think, they don't already have cause/permission to carry out their desired action.

”Yes, you won't be 100% they are HIV free but anything to reduce your risk is worth it, IMO.”  

I wonder if you understand what the HIV risk is for protected sex that you feel the need to test a lady beforehand.

Compared to other STDs HIV is not easily transmitted.  Studies have shown the infection rate of between 1/500 and 1/1000 un-protected coital event with an HIV partner.  The prevalence of HIV individuals in the US population is 1/330.  Being very conservative let assume the prevalence in the Provider population is 1/100.  The risk that you will have unprotected sex with a HIV Provider and being effected is

(1/100)X(1/500)= 1/ 50,000,

now if you use protection the risk is further reduce by a factor or 20 or a conservative a risk of 1/million.  Does this risk warrant testing a Provider beforehand for a test that will not pick HIV when a person in the most infectious state??? I can go on a talk about the impact of false positive test but that is for another thread.

I know asking for odds is tough but you guys that have been doing it out there a while. " what are the odds of getting caught? If you stay away from the lowend I think you'd be better off? But the providers that have in-calls and have daily traffic (pretty or not) seems fairly risky?