I caught this over at Drudge. Basically, police send a topless woman into a park to sunbathe (legally, apparently) and have her ask male passersby to do lewd things in front of her. Naturally, she fonds some men who think it’s their lucky day, and they get arrested. Key quote:

Law enforcement officials say that such sting operations are an extremely effective means of lowering crime rates and stopping the criminally minded before they commit worse offenses. From early 2006 to the spring of 2007, there were 160 citations for public indecency in the city, according to an investigation by 10TV News. Among those who were caught in the stings: an Ohio State University doctor, government employees and a retired highway trooper.

But such operations veer dangerously close to entrapment, say lawyers, civil libertarians and defendants who’ve been caught in sting operations.

At Garrison’s trial, his attorney argued that it was a case of entrapment. “Columbus police utilized this topless woman to snare this man,” said Sam Shamansky. “He sees her day after day. He’s not some seedy pervert.”

Echos of Larry Craig. Seriously, I think the police are a far more dangerous threat than perverts in public parks. I’ll say it again, if you’re actually having trouble with perverts in public parks, then patrol the parks, in a very public kind of way. But don’t encourage people to do lewd things and then arrest them. That makes life more dangerous for everybody.

Read more here, including video.

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