Undercover as Sex Workers: The Attitudes and Experiences of Female Vice Officers

This study was done to assess the attitudes and experiences of female vice police officers who pose as decoy prostitutes. Seven officers in the central Vice Unit in a large Mid-western city were interviewed. Two decoy officers were observed during one evening shift. Most of the officers described their work as interesting and used role playing to adopt the character of a prostitute. Dressing the part of a prostitute was not a problem, but speaking the language of the street was initially embarrassing. The female officers are not bothered by comments made by male officers as long as they occur within the work environment.(C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.