Although the search for clues that will ultimately lead investigators to the identity of the Long Island serial killer is ongoing, the story has been out of the headlines for several weeks. The reason, plain and simple, is that the latest piece of evidence to surface—a pair of human teeth—was unearthed on April 22, and no new leads have emerged since then.
Yet, the certainty that the killer is out there, waiting for his next opportunity to strike, has led the case in a new and unpredictable direction. Efforts have been mounted to obtain amnesty for sex workers who have information that could help police narrow their investigative trail.
At the web site Help Catch The Long Island Serial Killer, over 4,300 signatures have been collected on a petition asking Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer to grant prosecutorial immunity to sex workers who come forward with information about the case. The site argues that the authorities have
made it clear that sex workers [who provide actionable information] still face the risk of arrest if they ‘have been caught offering to have sex with a member of law enforcement or soliciting sex for money.’
At the blog site of Ms. Magazine, meanwhile, an article cum petition by an individual who goes by the name of Audacia Ray notes that the discovery of the original four sets of human remains in December of 2010 coincided with the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, a holiday that Hallmark has yet to immortalize.
The article states:
Arresting people who are engaged in prostitution is not protection. Instead, arrests—and public knowledge of them—send a clear message that people engaged in prostitution will not have their safety or ability to make a living respected by the police. News of a continued crackdown makes it even less likely that sex workers with information about the 10 bodies discovered on Long Island beaches will come forward and share this knowledge with the police.
The petition has garnered only 24 signatures.
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