OUR VIEW: Safe from strippers, not from criminals (with poll)

One of these things is not like the others: A. a thief; B. a vandal; C. a gang member; D. a juvenile offender; E. a stripper.

If you chose “E,” you’re a winner. The others are criminals who harm unsuspecting victims. The stripper is typically a single mom or student who needs cash and has no qualms showing her assets for tips.

Yet $4 million in cuts to the city’s police budget will result in less policing of thieves, vandals, gangs, drug dealers, and juvenile offenders. The cuts will cause no reduction in stripper patrol, conducted by the Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Division.

Last week’s headlines told us how budget cuts have grounded police copters. One headline warned: “Crime prevention a luxury Springs police can’t afford.” A new 7-page city report details law enforcement and Fire Department reductions. We’re losing 50 cops. The city will do less policing of gangs, weapons and drugs. A program that monitors violent juvenile criminals will end. Property crimes, already a low priority, will become an even lower priority. The cuts result from the recession, which has reduced tax revenues and caused public resistance to raising tax rates. The cuts are severe, and citizens will feel them. If some delinquent steals your car stereo, don’t expect a cop to arrive.

If you’re worried that a stripper might give you a lap dance, however, that’s another matter. Put your mind completely at ease. No reductions to undercover investigations of strippers were even discussed, said police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock.

“Those crimes that involve liquor licensing are very important to enforce,” Whitlock said. “City council has given us clear direction, as has the liquor board and the public, on what we need to do.” Whitlock said letting up on strip club investigations would cause a “slippery slope.”

“We’ve had a number of investigations of these types that have led to arrests for prostitution, and human trafficking. There needs to be a constant monitoring of these kinds of establishments,” Whitlock said.

The same week that brought us stories about drastic law enforcement reductions gave us another of those routine headlines about police patrolling a strip joint. All they found was a lap dance, or three.

(Please vote in poll to the right. Thanks!)

The story told of undercover detectives entering a strip club called Golden Cue in June, for a case the city's liquor board took up last week. Detectives observed two men paying a dancer $20. The police report says the woman did not take off her clothes, “but took turns sitting on and grinding on the laps” of both men. Next, a city detective paid the dancer $20, with department funds, for his own lap dance. Lap dances violate the city’s liquor ordinance. The ordinance prohibits “touching, caressing or fondling the breasts.”

Strip clubs can be lewd, full of immoral behavior. A great number of citizens consider lap dances obscene. Yet they’re hardly a threat to the public welfare. Who’s the victim? It can’t be the stripper, who willfully performed for pay. It can’t be the patron, who asked for, paid for and received a desired service. The only victim is city government, which says it’s illegal.

In prosperous times, perhaps, police should monitor the etiquette of strippers. But these are trying times, causing police to abandon a program that corrects the course of juvenile criminals. Through no fault of their own, police just reduced resources directed at gangs, weapons and drugs. They just told the public to expect less safety.

Councilman Sean Paige, whose trade is fighting for less government, said he trusts Police Chief Richard Myers to make prudent choices. He doesn’t believe City Council should micromanage the chief, but he wonders if police shouldn’t spend less time in strip joints at a time like this. “It is my personal belief this should be a low priority, compared to other things the police could be doing,” Paige said.

Colorado Springs police have done an excellent job of solving major, violent crimes. It’s a great department and our crime rate reflects this fact. But strippers behaving badly won’t hurt us like gangs, juvenile offenders, vandals and thieves — the criminals who just became lower priority for police. — Wayne Laugesen, editorial page editor, for the editorial board.

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