'NYPD 24/7': Undercover as a Prostitute

June 29, 2004 -- Nicole Papamichael is proud to be a New York City police officer. But she still hasn't told her mother exactly what she does.

A detective in the vice unit, sometimes her job calls for her to go undercover as a prostitute. She baits men who try to buy sex from her.

"Mom's a good churchgoing woman. She would never approve," Papamichael says. Her father just shakes his head and doesn't say a word.

"My sisters think it's great," Papamichael continued. "As a joke, my brother wants tips on how not to get busted."

She admits it's not easy. "You got a lot of weirdoes out there trying to pick you up," she tells ABC News, adding she also has to deal with pimps and prostitutes who think she's muscling in on their territory. "It's a tough life. I don't know how these women do it."

Most cops who do "pros ops," or prostitution operations, think it's degrading to women, she says. Not her.

"It's fun," she says. "I think I was made for it."

Striking a Deal

To entice and distract the johns, Papamichael likes to suck on a lollipop.

"Usually when you're sucking on the lollipop they tend to focus on that and forget anything else," she says. "Then they rush you into the car because this stimulates them for some reason."

The technique works. One night, a 500 Series BMW slowly drives up next to her. The window rolls down, and the passenger asks, "How does it work?"

"You pay me, I do you," she says, still sucking the lollipop. After running through her price list, $50 for oral sex and $100 for sex, her potential customer says it's too much.