Faux hos: woman police attitudes about decoy sex work

Abstract

This paper examines the practice of using female police officers as decoy sex workers. A snowball sample yielded 14 female police officers who are assigned to work decoy operations. Semi‐structured interview questions were related to perception of their roles in the department, job satisfaction, motivation for accepting a vice position, perceptions of opportunities for advancement, perceived risks in working the decoy role, suggestions for departmental effectiveness, and additional probes related to themes that emerged during the interviews. Narratives were transcribed and open coded. The gendered nature of the police subculture was evident as themes of collegial relationships, job satisfaction, motivations for accepting the decoy assignment, and perceptions of efficacy emerged.

Keywords:

• women in policing
• gender
• prostitution
• police culture