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I was out listening to music and having a drink with friends last week in Las Vegas when we struck up a conversation with some women at the table next to us. One of them, it turns out is an undercover Las Vegas police officer! I just had to ask her to talk to me a bit about what it’s like for her to work there in the “city of sin.”
I’ll call her Fran, but it’s not her real name. She’s a petite, pretty woman, but with a handshake like a vice. It’s plain that in her case, looks are definitely deceiving. She’s smart & tough and I’m glad she’s on the side of the law.
Fran works in the undercover unit that tries to get young girls off the street and out of the psychological and physical clutches of their pimps. She told me that most of the young working girls ran away from bad home situations and fell prey to the “charms” of their pimp, who promises to protect them and whom they swear they love.
Fran spends her time trying to convince those girls that their pimp is out for no one but himself and that there is more for them elsewhere. Believe it or not, many of the girls are extremely difficult to convince. They’ve never known any better.
She says that the Vegas unit she works in sends the girls to Los Angeles to be a part of the Children of the Night Program.
Sometimes Fran dresses like the working girls so that she can gain their acceptance, so I don’t want to identify her at all, but it’s clear that she’s very passionate about the work she does. She knows that there are a lot of girls that won’t ever leave their pimp, but she keeps working to save the ones she can.
She’s married and her husband works in Las Vegas in the entertainment industry, so I know he comes into contact with some unsavory characters now and then too. But Fran is the super courageous woman I got the chance to talk to and I am in awe of her strength. She’s a true hero. She doesn’t want the spotlight. In fact, in her work, she can’t get public recognition. She is an unsung hero that saves young people from horrible situations, and perhaps worse every day.
I know she’s not in the CSI unit, but she’s someone that touched me and made me happy that there are such heroic people, ready to do what they can to save other people’s children. My hat’s off to Fran and to all of her counterparts everywhere that work to help others who don’t even know how to help themselves.
I was so impressed with Fran and the work she does that I just had to share it with you. I know I’ll watch crime dramas with a bit of a different attitude. I’ll watch with more respect for the undercover officers now that I’ve met Fran. I hope you might too.
