News :: Crime

Dozen Men Arrested Utica, N.Y., Police Park Sex Sting

by Steve Weinstein
EDGE Contributor
Tuesday Jun 26, 2012
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Entrance to Roscoe Conkling Park
Entrance to Roscoe Conkling Park  

A dozen men ranging in age from 47 to 79 years old have been arrested in Utica, N.Y. after an undercover operation in a local park. Police allege that they were prompted to take action by several complaints by the public that the park had become a cruising ground for gay sex.

Utica, a city of 63,000, is located in a valley amidst the rolling mountains of Central New York. Roscoe Conkling Park is part of a sprawling recreational area that includes the city’s zoo. It offers scenic views of the city.

"We were fielding a lot of complaints from people in the community who were driving by or jogging by and saw people doing lewd acts," Utica’s police chief, told Syracuse.com, the online news service of the (Utica) Post-Standard. "We’ve had this problem for several years, in this same area."

Officers reported finding blankets, underwear, other clothing and miscellaneous items in the area. The police set up a sting whereby an undercover officer walked around the park, where he "was approached numerous times by men, who would then expose themselves and masturbate. On several occasions the suspect grabbed the officer in a sexual manner while propositioning him."

Of the men arrested, Police Chief Williams said, "It’s shocking. The sad part is some of these people have families. I feel bad for the family members."

Syracuse.com included in its report the names, ages and cities of the men who were arrested. The Utica police department posted photos and other identifying information for the men on its Facebook page.

None of the men have been convicted of any crimes in association with the sting; the public posting of their identities, while legal, follows a number of other similar incidents that have been making waves in the LGBT community.

In New York City a few years ago, a group of men met with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office after they were arrested at adult establishments and accused of "loitering for the purpose of prostitution." EDGE reported that one undercover cop was "charming and persistent" and offered to pay for sex before arresting the other man.

A controversy erupted a few months ago in Southern California after Manhattan Beach’s police department published mug shots, names and birth dates of men caught in an undercover operation in a beach restroom.

Several years ago, Detroit police were accused of a sting operation in which they would target gay men at Rouge Park. Several times, the men arrested claimed the police tried to shake them down for a bribe so as not to be arrested. The City of Detroit eventually had to provide a $170,000 settlement to the men arrested.

Even the arrest of notorious homophobic GOP Utah U.S. Sen. Larry Craig in a Minneapolis restroom in 2007 was perceived as an unfair sting. EDGE reported that "many activists reluctantly came to his defense, squaring their indignation with broader concerns over the proper role of law enforcement and nuances of bathroom sex lingo."

Craig was arrested after tapping his show from his own stall in the direction of the undercover officer’s stall. "Is moving your foot up and down a signal of encouragement?" asked one such activist.

Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early ’80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).

Comments

  • Oh Jed said:, 2012-06-26 10:48:14

    I’ll bet a majority of them are married. Now I want to know how many are outspoken, religious, Republicans against marriage equality.


  • Anonymous, 2012-06-26 12:43:23

    Leterous old creeps. In this day and age these guys have to cruise a public park to hook up? Gross.


  • Bob K, 2012-06-26 19:04:03

    RE-- Leterous old creeps. In this day and age these guys have to cruise a public park to hook up? Gross" A-- UNKIND to fellow Gays, thus homophobic B-- All of them born before Stonewall, stuck in fucking Utica, living in the past --although they were acting trashy enough to get complaints, which is bad C- "lecherous" is the correct spelling, but "old, lonely, and not knowing how to get love" is more accurate


  • Oh Jed said:, 2012-06-26 20:00:10

    Good response, 12:04, albeit sad.


  • Imbibe, 2012-06-27 00:34:58

    My the ageism in the gay community. They are over 40 so they must be evil closeted Republicans. Maybe they are just old gay guys who don’t get much welcome anywhere else.


  • Paul in Alabama, 2012-06-27 07:15:28

    The homophobic attitude inherent in this "police action" (read: go after the fruits, they are an easy, popular target in an election year) is evidenced by the remark from Chief Williams. "The sad part is SOME of THESE PEOPLE have families. I feel sorry for the FAMILY MEMBERS." (My emphasis.) I hate to tell this putz, they ALL have families! This sleazy way to make it about the to-be-feared "them/these people", as opposed to the oh-so-righteous "we/family members" is most assuredly a de facto department policy, since the chief is the one making this scurrilous, cowardly, back-handed attempt to convict these people by innuendo. No matter the guilt or innocence of these entrapped citizens, you can bet your bottom dollar if these were hetero couples frolicking al fresco (yes, Virginia, straight people do it too!), they would have been sent on their merry way with a warning to "behave yourselves/take it elsewhere" instead of this homo-witch-hunt. I have witnessed such action in various cities, it is pervasive in police behavior, and the more we call them on it and turn the hot focus back on their shameful behavior, the sooner this horseshit will end. ESPECIALLY if we start making them pay, as in the Detroit and other cases!


  • Oh Jed said:, 2012-06-27 23:27:43

    The most offensive thing to me is that they don’t clean up their mess. This is a guy thing, NOT a gay thing.


  • Anonymous, 2012-06-28 00:34:40

    To the ABC guy... What are you twelve?There is no reason-- NO-- reason anyone, gay or str8 needs to troll a public park. Since when is abhorrent behavior justified? Why because they’re old and are stuck in str8 relationships? GMAFB. And since when is saying no that is t acceptable behavior anti gay and thus homophobic? You’re a moron. Don’t expose yourself publicly. Don’t have sex in the bushes of a public park. Don’t troll men’s rooms. Jesus you need a guidebook to you that? Arrest them. Their families are ancillary to the issue. If they don’t want to get arrested and have their families find out, THEN DON’T DO SOMETHING ILLEGAL. Maybe this is just gay-natural selection. There is no justifiable reason to do this. More power I the cops to stop this kind of absurd behavior.


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