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EditorialsCrackdown on johns, dopeMacomb Daily - 8/6/05The issue: Sheriff Mark Hackel promises to keep up the pressure against prostitution, drugs. Our view: We commend the deputies’ presence and positive relationship with Mount Clemens
When Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel served a warning to prostitutes, johns and drug peddlers that their days of frequenting the northern neighborhoods of Mount Clemens were over, it was more than a threat. During a 4-day undercover sting operation last week, the sheriff ’s department arrested 36 people in a sweep to rid the city of such undesirables. Of those arrested, 19 were men accused of soliciting sex from undercover police officers. The names of those arrested were published in last Saturday’s edition of The Macomb Daily. In announcing the success of the sweep, Hackel held a news conference in front of a suspected drug house on Northbound Gratiot to serve notice “that this city belongs to the residents, not anyone else.” And he added, “If people think we’re just going to quit after this, they’re sorely mistaken.” The sheriff, cognizant that a number of residents were in the crowd, then pledged, “We’re not going to stop until we’re satisfied the problem is under control.”
The problem has been a sore spot with residents in the city’s northern neighborhoods for the last several years, and some expressed a loss of support for city hall because the problem of prostitution and drug peddlers was out of control.
When the city disbanded its police department July 1 to enter into a contractual agreement with the sheriff ’s department to provide police protection, Hackel’s first major pronouncement was a pledge to rid Mount Clemens of prostitution and drug peddlers.
Residents, business owners and city officials attending the news briefing, openly expressed their satisfaction with the frequency of patrols through alleys and into the neighborhoods along the city’s main roads.
The sheriff ’s department insists the watchdog
approach is here to stay, heightened by the appearance of former city police
officers now wearing the brown deputy uniforms.
As for dividends in community safety, 300
arrests have been made since last Friday, with court appearances before Judge
Linda Davis of the 41B District court.
While Hackel and his staff have earned respect and praise from an appreciative community, we also commend the sheriff for providing periodic diversity training for deputies assigned to patrol Mount Clemens, a municipality with a sizable minority base.
Though this is only the second month for the
sheriff ’s jurisdiction for police protection of Mount Clemens, all indicators
point to a positive relationship. Debate remains fresh over 'oldest profession'By Philip Van Hulle - Macomb Daily Editor - 07-31-05 Many people like to say that prostitution, besides claiming the distinction of the world’s oldest profession, is a "victimless crime." Those same people, of course, generally do not have hookers working their neighborhood streets and would not rally the welcome wagon for a whorehouse moving in next door. There was intense debate this week in The Macomb Daily newsroom about whether to publish the names of 19 men charged with offering to pay for sex from undercover police officers in a sting operation in Mount Clemens. We named those men, as well as two women arrested for offering sex acts for money, in our lead article in Saturday’s edition. County Sheriff Mark Hackel announced the names of the men and women at a news conference Friday. Hackel even made photographs of those charged available. There never was any question that we had a legal right to publish the names of those charged. We do. The debate revolved, instead, around whether we should. Some members of the newsroom argued that both crimes — the men offering to pay for sex and the women offering to provide sex for money — are merely misdemeanors. We don’t often publish the names of other people charged with misdemeanors, they correctly argued. Others said publishing the men’s names would embarrass their families. A veteran newsroom member pointed out that more than a decade ago when the newspaper published the names of some men charged with similar crimes, our phones heated up with calls from relatives outraged that we would bring shame upon their families. Chalk it up to whatever line of thinking you will, nobody involved in the discussion thought we should omit the names of the two women identified by Hackel as known prostitutes working the streets of the county seat. You can’t say these people didn’t have plenty of warning. Residents of the neighborhood have been demanding greater police action to clean up prostitution for at least a year, going as far as to stake out their streets with video cameras and notifying would-be johns that they are on camera. Hackel, for months, announced that his officers would crack down on the problem when he took over policing in the city. I argue that if these men are seeking sex for money on the streets, their families have more important issues than worrying about public embarrassment. And while offering to pay for sex and hooking are misdemeanors, I don’t know of anyone — in the newsroom or otherwise — who would turn a blind eye to such activities in their own neighborhood. As long as prostitution remains a crime, it takes two to make it illegal. Hookers could not walk the streets of Mount Clemens neighborhoods were it not for plenty of willing johns. The women may sell sex acts, but someone needs to fork over the cash for the crime to take place. At the end of the discussion I made the decision to publish the names of both the men and the women who were charged. If the charges are dropped, we will report that as well. But if they — and others — are arrested again, we will continue to publish their names. If that assists in making our streets cleaner and safer, it will have been the right decision. You can let me know whether you think I was correct by utilizing the contact information at the end of this column. Send comments to
vanhulle@macombdaily.com or (586) 783-0372. Macomb sheriff rightly weeds out casesEDITORIAL(Detroit Free Press) 7/30/05In publicly stating that his department no longer welcomes purely political complaints, Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel sent a strong message about cleaning up the way community leaders run campaigns and debate issues. He will also save the Sheriff's Department – and the taxpayers – hundreds of hours a year that it wastes on investigating second-hand allegations, or even lies, to discredit political opponents. Hackel said this week that he would personally check complaints that involve political disputes between elected officials and other leaders. Up to now, another high-ranking officer besides Hackel would handle such complaints. The department would routinely send out a squad car to take a report and then follow up with an investigation.
His remarks came after Macomb County Ministerial Alliance spokesman Greg Murray filed an extortion complaint against Anthony Bursey, who's running for the Mt. Clemens City Commission. The Sheriff's Department won't investigate the complaint, Hackel said, because no laws were broken.
Hackel, whose department gets dozens of political complaints a year, told the Free Press on Friday that he would investigate any complaint in which a law might have been broken. But he will no longer waste officers' time on baseless allegations, which can take an air of legitimacy in an official police report.
The sheriff will probably be accused of not investigating some complaints because of political or personal ties. But as one of the county's most popular politicians, he should be able to take the heat.
Hackel's decision to remove the department from petty political spats should result in more time for officers to investigate real crimes. |
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