The six foot rule was never officially repealed or taken off the books in Tampa. A few years ago, I recall a police chief or mayor admitting that they had higher priorities than aggressively pursuing six foot rule violators, but technically they can still arrest people if they desire.

Shortly after the six foot rule passed, police raided strip clubs and arrested lap dancers and their patrons by the bus load. This did not deter lap dancers or most patrons. There were so many people violating the rule that it quickly became obvious that the courts and jail systems could not possibly support this many "criminals". I doubt any of them spent more than a night in jail.

There were a few high profile six foot rule enforcements applied to visiting professional athletes during major sporting events. These arrests came within the first year or two after the six foot rule became a law (2000, if I recall correctly). There is no doubt in my mind that the six foot rule enforcements were selectively applied to these athletes because they are well-known public figures. The city of Tampa wanted to make an example of them.

To my knowledge, there have been no six foot rule arrests made in several years. I have been to clubs before and after the law was passed and thankfully have not noticed any difference in lap dances. If a stripper in Tampa told me that she couldn't do something because she had to obey the six foot rule, I would know that she was bullshitting me, believed that I was a cop, or more likely, it was her first and last day on the job.

Oddly enough, neighboring Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater, etc...) has similar rules that have been in force for a long time. There is only one rinky-dink nude club in Pinellas County but there are dozens of pasty and bikini clubs. The rules seem to be obeyed in Pinellas; however, there is only one small nude club and it probably lacks the resources and number of dancers to make prosecuting it difficult. The six foot rule doesn't affect the dozens of pasties and bikini bars because it only applies to full nudity clubs.

Edited by - Walter on 4/30/2007 11:09:16 AM

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Yeah, if I remember correctly when Tampa first attempted to enforce it, some of the clubs (like 2001 Odyssey) went so far as to put a buzzable door at the front to slow down entrance of the police. They also took the wide-open lap dance area (which until then was one large room by the stairs where everyone could see everyone else getting a dance) and partitioned it into separate enclaves which provided more privacy. So, the new law actually enabled the customer to get a more private, and undoubtedly more personal, dance.

Then, suddenly, they quit enforcing it...for a few YEARS...until Joe Redner of Mons Venus (who had put one of those portable signs outside his business daring the police to enfoerce it!) pissed off the mayor at a function by refusing to shake his hand. A new arrests were then made, and I believe that a FEMALE judge who got the cases tossed them all out and refused to hear them saying it was a waste of time. That is the best that I remember happening.

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rocco

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And of course the drug thing is just an excuse - they have to make it look they are justifying it some way...

db

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They had a club called the brass ass and the laws would not allow them to even remove their tops.

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I think both prostitution and drugs should be legal, because people have the fundamental right to make a living how they want and fuck themselves up as much as they want, as long as they don't hurt anyone else. Both are impossible to effectively police, anyways. The most ridiculous thing about this proposal is the idea that the only way a stripper could obtain drugs is customers sneaking them in during a lap dance. They're in a strip club, not prison.

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