The Kraft case that we all forgot about? It's *SUPER* important, but for reasons that aren't easy to talk about. This case shows us exactly what the utility of #trafficking to cops/how you can push what is acceptable in #policing for a few reasons: (1/10) news-press.com/story/news/cri…
First, you have great PR to fall back on. You have journalists churning out something juicy that they don't understand, so they generally either re-print your press release or get completely distracted. Look at these headlines. As a cop, don't you want this PR? Esp NOW? (2/10) 
But you're also usually targeting ppl who are (1) Broke (2) Marginalized & (3) ashamed. So most people are going to plea & never know the evidence. What makes this different IS Kraft - no one else in this case has a well-paid legal team meaning no one questions tactics. (3/10)
It's going to appeal over the evidence used - that they put surveillance cameras to record everyone in the spa. LE are required to minimize potential harm in surveillance, but they recorded people without consent who had an expectation of privacy in an independent business. (4/10
Or, “Running across the state’s bid for reversal in all of these cases is the specter of a police state. One where police can inject the most invasive forms of surveillance into the most sensitive and private of settings to investigate the most mundane offenses,” (5/10)
And the state is using the reasoning that they “reasonably anticipated that most if not all of the spa’s customers who would be recorded on video would ultimately pay for prostitution.” Again, NOT trafficking, but prostitution (6/10)
And: NO ONE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING. THERE ARE NO TRAFFICKING CHARGES COMING. But that's a side note, and no one is re-writing their headlines. But the damage has been done anyway, because you don't get a lot of breaking FL appeals news on evidence hearings (7/10)
There has been some *amazing* journalism that happened because of the Kraft name. No one's doing the same digging against C i t y x g u i d e or every sting, which are ok during a global pandemic cause it's trafficking. This article is stellar deadspin.com/when-the-rober… (8/10)
Anyway. The recent phase of the Kraft story is that FL is pushing what is lawful in police surveillance using #trafficking as the cover when you mostly arrest/publicly shame poor folks while no one asks what we're doing for victims of harm, who were your excuse anyway. (9/10)
Side note: Even if these women were eligible for a T-visa (if they were undocumented, that would allow them to stay in the country) yesterday, the agency which processes visas furloughed 13600 staffers, or 2/3 of the entire agency, known as USCIS. Aaaaaaand scene. (10/10)
