Since the fall of 2004, officers at the Hermitage Police Precinct have been quietly conducting a sting operation exclusively targeting gay men. Nobody there denies that. The precinct's crime suppression unit, which operates as a mini vice squad, has been working with at least one confidential informant who has been infiltrating gay chat rooms, contacting users and seeing if they're interested in exchanging drugs and cash for sex. Later, they'll lead their targets to a local apartment or hotel room where Metro police lie in wait. No informants are working straight chat rooms with the same purpose.
Sometimes the targets of the CI will be uninterested in even hearing about illegal activity and will click off the instant message window. But then the informant, who many describe as remarkably persistent, will again contact his target and resume a conversation about sex and drugs. Typically, CIs are rather shady individuals who employ a working knowledge of the criminal underworld, from drug rings to prostitution. The police enlist their help and reward them with petty cash or a favorable resolution to their current legal problems.
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