outrageous bikini lap dance sex story sells papers
tommyIt seems that if news outlets can get the word “dancer,” “bikini,” or “lap dance” in the headline, it runs top of page.
The Tribune published a story recently in an effort to pick on your Hillsborough County Sheriffs. The piece is written in a way that highlights the amount of money spent as well as the number of times officers got lap dances at Lil Tootsie’s. And because they know that sex sells, they make sure the headline looks like something you might get from a spammer: “Vice Unit Thorough In Probe Of Bikini Bar”
Anyway, the bikini bar on East Hillsborough Av. was under investigation for two years and a half. According to Head Sheriff David Gee, detectives witnessed 849 crimes at the establishment, including liquor violations and drug possession, yet the story only mentions that those detectives made 41 cases for nudity violations. So what happened to the other charges?
You get a hint of a possibility from reporter Mike Wells with a one line paragraph:
The sheriff said he has not been pressured by other elected officials to close Lil Tootsie’s.
Interesting little throw-in, huh? Usually, a one-off line like that means the exact opposite. So there is a distinct possibility that someone was pressuring the Sheriff to come down hard on Lil Tootsie and her krewe. Unfortunately, Wells does not tell us who.
Meanwhile, media outlets nationwide are carrying the story as some sort of wild cop sex rampage scandal. Worst of ‘em all, Keith Olbermann calls HC detectives the worst persons in the world, and calls the investigation “extremely expensive.” The runner-up worst person bilked $175,000 from taxpayers, and he calls $6500 “extremely expensive.”
Maybe it’s me, but $6500 over 2 & 1/2 years doesn’t seem that excessive. I’m sure there are more costly scandals going on than this - why can’t the news outlets find them?
Tags: newspapers, tampa
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October 2nd, 2006 at 9:06 am
It’s quite excessive. When you’re busting prostitutes, you don’t pay them for sex 72 times before finally arresting them for prostitution. One is enough.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:33 am
yeah, i think i need to “investigate” some strip clubs. maybe, just maybe, like the cop i saw leaving a $15 dollar parking ticket in Soho at 1AM, these guys could have been doing something like, oh i dunno, going after real criminals? or is that too much to ask? probably. i think olbermann is justified. c’mon, these guys were getting lapdances. over and over and over again. and they’re cops. it’s a little hard to defend.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:07 am
Tommy I agree with you, its not excessive.
What I find interesting is that we can spend millions of dollars, not 6k, on the Crosstown, which we pay for and then are paying for again, and then will continue to pay for, and that doesn’t make the news nationally.
As a former boss told me, if it’s not SEXY it doesn’t sell. Legally, morally, criminally, civilly, Sex gets the front page.
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:23 am
with the $6500 you are ignoring the salaries of these cops and the enormous amount of time spent getting 92 lap dances. the reason sex sells in this instance is that it’s totally ridiculous for these guys to be engaging in this kind of crap. i agree that there are probably a lot more egregious things going on, but this is flat out stupid.
October 2nd, 2006 at 1:05 pm
I’ll make the polite observation, my friend, that headlining your post with the words “ourageous,” “bikini,” “lap dance,” and “sex story” won’t hurt the traffic stats of Sticks of Fire, either.
Neither will that Frederick’s of Hollywood ad on the right rail.
October 2nd, 2006 at 1:42 pm
if you are the victim of a crime, you call the cops. sometimes they show up quickly. sometimes it takes longer. sometimes they dont show up at all. thats when ya start to wonder if on-duty cops getting lap dances is in the public’s best interest.
as a crack-ho, i know that many of my fellow crack-hos are “dancers.” in reality, being a “dancer” is great cover. some dancers, on house arrest, cover up their ankle bracelets and come to work! others have warrants for arrest, or have records for violent crime, fraud, or other things that would make a sober man think twice about any contact at all with such a person!
exotic dancers should be licensed and TAXED. the IRS should have a booth in the Mons Venus. i have heard strippers bragging about making $$$$$$ at MV, but i know they never pay a penny in taxes. make sure dancers dont have outstanding criminal warrants. have some apparatus so that the “customer” or “john” knows whether the “dancer” has been convicted of violent crime, or financial fraud, or identity theft, as many have. (dont kid yourself, most dancers do not have good moral values) tax the hell out of the profession, and make sure the dancers pay the taxes. but cops gettin lap dances, while serious crime receives a delayed response or no response at all- that’s a crime.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm
The always knowledgable crack ho at it again
October 2nd, 2006 at 6:40 pm
I’ve never even been to Mons Venus. Ain’t that a shame?
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:26 am
Typically these operations are justified by the claim that the business has generated public nusiance complaints and/or serves as a point of ignition for other crimes. Stand-alone bars often incite high police attention because of the fights and other crap that goes on there. As a community you need to decide if this business in fact contributed to other crime and if so does it warrant police attention to try and shut it down. The lap dances are just the method of enforcement, if closing this place means the drunks leaving it don’t kill somebody, or a fight there doesn’t result in a shooting is it worth the price? We expect these cops to be “pro-active” and not just wait for crime to happen to innocent people, if they spend a little money arresting people for petty crap and liqour law violations to do so is it worth it?
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:42 am
did they really need to get lapdances? i mean, REALLY?
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Jeff:
Headlining my post with the word “ourageous,†was a typo, and will be fixed. The words “bikini,†“lap dance,†and “sex story†are just coincidence. Maybe.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:07 am
DCDave: In order to catch a crook you have to think like a crook, that is Criminal Justice 101. Further, it is a fact that many strip clubs have had drug operations operating in them. What if this investigation netted a huge cocaine deal or thwarted a hit of someone. Would that make it better? The cost of the investigation in my opinion is minimal. But as stated before, SEX sells. The news didn’t put out there how much it cost for the manhunt of the cop killer did it? 15 agency’s 20 hours, not that it wasn’t necessary and just, it just isn’t as sexy as Lap Dancing Investigation.