Police: Plans to Live-Tweet Sting Kept Away Would-Be Johns

Prince George's County Police say the threat of being exposed on Twitter kept potential johns away from a prostitution sting.

The sting began on Tuesday and lasted several hours -- without a single arrest.

Police originally said that during the sting, they would live-tweet photos of offenders to deter others from soliciting prostitutes. But even before the sting got started, police changed their minds about live-tweeting, due to concerns that the identities of undercover officers would be revealed.

The threat alone apparently worked.

No arrests were made during the sting, but police say that would-be johns' fear of having their identities disclosed was enough to scare them away.

"I've participated in hundreds of stings, and I've never seen what happened today," said Sgt. Dave Coleman, who's in charge of the county's vice unit. "By advertising this days ago, we wanted to put johns on notice to not come to Prince George's County. That message was heard loud and clear."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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