Thursday, February 15, 2007

New top cop cracks down on sex shops

The new Commander of Kings Cross Police is on fire, the latest man on a mission to clean up the Cross.

Word is there is a new crop of undercover police posing as drug dealers on the streets (a street person pointed two of them out to me).

Now the new Super has raided the sex shops, all of which have been selling X-rated porn for decades even though it is illegal in this prim little state. Suddenly the police seem to have noticed this shockingly immoral activity and have confiscated the lot. Now, one supposes, they will have to spend weeks watching it, all for the purposes of law enforcement of course.

The PR around the raids mentioned child pornography about 21 times (none has been found yet, though). The forensic examination of computers remains, just in case there are any pedophiles who think downloading porn in these places might be safer than doing it at home or in any other internet cafe.

Curious about the open display of X-rated porn in these places, I once asked a sex shop owner how they got away with it. It seems when the police make these raids they take all the porn and attempt to prosecute the shop owner. However they end up losing the court case because of legal technicalities around free trade between states, and have to return all the stock and continue turning the same blind eye they have turned in the past. You see, other states can trade in X-rated porn, notably the ACT which runs a booming business in mail-order porn.

Normally the NSW cops don't bother as it merely ties them up in acres of paperwork (and porn-watching) when they would rather be out there addressing the alcohol-related incidents and car break-ins which are the real problem around here.

Meanwhile all the porn customers will have to get their stuff as far afield as Oxford St or the city. That'll be good for the Cross... but the temperance union will no doubt be ecstatic. Oliver Cromwell rides again.