Los Angeles, CA
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, with a population of approximately 3.8 million in the city proper, and over 19 million in the greater metro area. Prostitution and sex trafficking are chronic and visible problems in the area, with recent activities centered around the Western and Figueroa Corridors, and Lankershim Boulevard in Sun Valley. Several serial killers have targeted individuals selling sex in the city, and numerous individual homicides of sex sellers (as well as johns and pimps) have occurred. Individuals continuing to sell sex after being diagnosed as HIV positive have also been documented.
To combat the issue, the Los Angeles Police Department has adopted an aggressive and comprehensive approach to identify and apprehend sex buyers. In 1973, the LAPD was among the first forces in the U.S. to implement the use of street-level reverse stings. Now city officers conduct reverse stings weekly, resulting in approximately 2,0000 arrests of sex buyers per year. Operations typically involve the use of an undercover female officer, who poses as a decoy. Although the majority of reverse stings have targeted street solicitors, the LAPD has also set up surveillance in massage parlors and replaced massage technicians with undercover female officers when businesses were suspected of illegal activities.
Once arrested, johns are frequently issued SOAP (or Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution) orders, barring them from entering areas of the city associated with prostitution activity. Between 2003 and 2007, the city also instituted an ordinance giving police the right to seize and impound vehicles used for solicitation. Despite its successes (some 168 johns’ cars were seized in 2007 alone), the tactic was discontinued after the California Supreme Court ruled it incompatible with preexisting state legislation.
In 2008, the LAPD collaborated with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to create a “john school” to rehabilitate and educate arrested sex buyers. The initiative, named the “Prostitution Diversion Program,” is modeled after the First Offender Prosecution Program (FOPP) in San Francisco. “Johns” may sign up for the program if they have no prior arrests for solicitation, drugs, or violent crime, and are willing to pay a $600 fee and submit to a HIV test. Once enrolled, the men must complete the 8 hour course that includes a lecture on STD transmission and presentations from police officers, former sex sellers, and representatives from Sex Addicts Anonymous. In exchange, graduates of the program may have their solicitation charges waived within the year if they are compliant and avoid rearrest. As of October 2014, 1,400 men had completed the program– only four were subsequently been rearrested.
Many neighborhoods with the large city of Los Angeles have spearheaded anti-prostitution efforts, including those that focus specifically on sex buyers in some way. A LAPD community liaison officer said the West Adams community in particular is taking action. . The intersection at 29th Street and Western Avenue had been known as one of the worst “tracks” for street-level deals, and one resident responded by starting a Twitter account called STOP PROSTITUTION. Another neighborhood group is the Van Nuys Homeowners Association, which in September 2013 was forming the grass-roots “Group Against Street Prostitution” (GASP). Among the community’s complaints are the inability to sleep at night because individuals selling sex shout at cars to flag them down and argue with pimps and customers; residents find used condoms thrown on their lawns; and cars in front of residents’ houses are seen with prostituted women having sex with johns.
Key Partners
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
- Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office
- Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Los Angeles Metro’s Child Trafficking Awareness Campaign
- Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
- California Against Slavery
Key Sources
- National Assessment Survey, Interviews, Site Visit
- Reverse Stings:
- “Hollywood Blvd., Ordinary By Day, Is Sordid By Night”, Sarasota Journal, November 1 1973.
- “50 Arrested in Hooker Sweep”, Los Angeles Times, March 5 1987.
- “34 Arrested in Prostitution Sweep”, Daily News of Los Angeles, November 17 1987.
- “30 Men Seized in Prostitute ‘Sting'”, Los Angeles Times, July 24 1988.
- “Decoy Prostitutes Help Arrest 29 Men”, Los Angeles Times, September 18 1988.
- “Prostitution Sting Leads to 36 Arrests”, Los Angeles Times, May 23 1989.
- “Rosecrans Corridor Vice Spurs Annexation Plea”, Los Angeles Times, September 10 1989.
- “41 Arrested in Prostitution Sting Operation”, Los Angeles Times, October 8 1989.
- “61 Arrested in Pacoima Prostitution Sting”, Los Angeles Times, November 20 1989.
- “66 Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Los Angeles Times, July 2 1990.
- “Prostitution Sweep Ends in Arrest of 60”, Los Angeles Times, August 26 1991.
- “El Camino Village: 9 Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Los Angeles Times, March 17 1994.
- “Joey Buttafuoco Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Chicago Tribune, May 25 1995.
- “Street Prostitution: Viable Solutions to Solving the Problem”, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 2002.
- “Press Conference to Announce Arrests in Prostitution Sting”, LAPD News Release, December 16 2003.
- “14 Arrested in Venice Undercover Prostitution Sting”, NBC/KNBC-TV 4, March 13 2009.
- “Scanner Report: Prostitution Sting in the Valley”, North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch, August 12 2011.
- “Cops Crack Down on Western Avenue Prostitution”, Park La Brea News/Beverly Press, February 2 2012.
- “LAPD Arrests 26 in Prostitution Sting on Lankershim”, North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch, March 8 2012.
- “Sun Valley Prostitution Sting Nets 34 Arrests”, ABC/KABC-TV 7, March 14 2012.
- “Police to Publicize Solicitors’ Names After Tactical Shift In Prostitution Crackdown”, CBS/KCAL-TV 9, March 15 2012.
- “Sun Valley Prostitution Sting Nets At Least 17 Arrests”, Los Angeles Daily News, October 5 2012.
- “19 Men Arrested in LAPD Prostitution Sting”, CBS/KCAL-TV 9, September 5 2013.
- “Van Nuys Prostitution Sting Leads to 22 Arrests”, Los Angeles Daily News, October 19 2013.
- John School:
- Los Angeles Prostitution Diversion Program Source Materials:
- “Shaming and Scaring Johns Into Becoming Average Joes”, Los Angeles Times, February 26 2009.
- “Reducing Demand for Prostitution Through Johns School, Educating and Preventing Repeat Customers”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, July 10 2012.
- “Prostitution in Los Angeles: Cracking Down on Johns and Pimps”, Contra Costa Times, May 18 2014.
- “Los Angeles School for ‘Johns’ Aims to Educate Offenders”, Los Angeles Daily News, October 25 2014.
- SOAP Orders:
- Auto Seizure:
- “Seizing Johns’ Wheels to Put Brakes on Prostitution”, Los Angeles Times, February 20 2004.
- “Car Seizures Help Halt Crime”, Fox News, July 15 2004.
- “California: LAPD Prostitutes Hook 500 Cars”, Medianews Group, August 6 2006.
- “Justices Overturn Local Vehicle Seizure Laws”, Los Angeles Times, July 27 2007.
- “Court Strikes Forfeiture Ordinance for Cars Used to Solicit Prostitutes”, Metropolitan News-Enterprise, January 9 2008.
- Neighborhood Action:
- “Irate Residents Ask Police Action on Prostitutes”, Los Angeles Times, May 20 1982.
- “L.A. Seeks to Thwart Sex Trade on Figueroa”, Los Angeles Times, May 13 2008.
- “South L.A. Couple Battles Ongoing Prostitution”, South Los Angeles Report, January 9 2012.
- “LAPD: West Adams Residents ‘Fed Up’ with South LA Prostitution”, On Central, March 29 2012.
- “Fighting the World’s Oldest Profession”, Los Angeles Daily News, September 29 2013.
- “Neighborhood Works to Control Prostitutes, Pimps”, Los Angeles Daily News, October 6 2013.
- Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Probe Finds Crime Groups Importing Prostitutes”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 15 1986.
- Commission on the Status of Women (2005), Human Trafficking and Child Protection Task Force, 2005.
- “LAPD Seeks More Victims in South L.A. Teenage Prostitution Case”, Los Angeles Times, October 4 2010.
- “LAPD Seeks Other Victims of Alleged Child Pimp”, CBS/KCAL-TV 9, October 4 2010.
- “Child Sex Trafficking in Los Angeles: ‘It Happens Way Too Often'”, Los Angeles Daily News, May 5 2012.
- “Campaign to Halt Child Sex Trafficking Launched in L.A. County”, Los Angeles Times, May 31 2012.
- “LOS ANGELES: Riverside Girl Escapes Sex Traffic Ring”, Riverside Press-Enterprise, July 11 2012.
- “8 Indicted in Inland Empire Teenage Sex Trafficking Ring”, CBS/KCAL-TV 9, August 9 2012.
- “In California, An Effort to Fight Human Trafficking”, National Public Radio, August 22 2012.
- “Anti-Sex Trafficking Proposition 35 is Surprisingly Controversial”, Los Angeles Times, October 30 2012.
- “Most L.A. County Youths Held for Prostitution Come From Foster Care”, Los Angeles Times, November 27 2012.
- “Treating Them As Victims, Not Criminals”, Los Angeles Times, December 3 2012.
- “Los Angeles Task Force Takes On Underage Prostitution”, ABC/Univision, December 7 2012.
- “Teen Prostitutes Find Help Getting Off the Streets”, Voice of America, January 4 2013.
- “Two Men Arrested for Kidnapping and Forcing Women into Prostitution”, ABC/KERO-TV 23, May 26 2013.
- “Five Suspects Held for Allegedly Forcing Teens into Prostitution”, Los Angeles Times, August 31 2013.
- “Bills Fight Sex Trafficking One Small Step at a Time”, Los Angeles Register, August 31 2014.
- “LAPD Seeks Additional Victims of Pimp who Forced 2 Teen Girls into Prostitution,” Los Angeles Times, July 16 2015.
- “Gang Member Is Charged with Sex Trafficking of 7 Teenage Girls,” Los Angeles Times, January 20 2016.
- “Sex Trafficking Sweep Rescues 12 Minors in Los Angeles County and Nets 198 Arrests,” Los Angeles Times, January 28 2016.
- Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “LAPD Vows to Wipe Out Prostitution Problem On Lankershim”, North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch, March 15 2012.
- “LAPD: West Adams Residents ‘Fed Up’ With South LA Prostitution”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, March 29 2012.
- “Prostitution Plagues Lankershim Boulevard and Area Residents”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, July 9 2012.
- “In Walnut Park, Legacies of Prostitution and Misdemeanor Crime Tough to Erase”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, July 11 2012.
- “In Areas Plagued By Crime, Prostitution Remains Difficult to Prosecute and a Distant Priority”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, July 12 2012.
- “Juvenile Courts Work to Treat Teen Prostitutes As Victims”, Southern California Public Radio/KPCC-AM 89.3, July 13 2012.
- “Prostitution Dips on Lankershim in Sun Valley, Business Owners Say”, North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch, September 26 2012.
- Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- “‘Strangler Task Force’ Increased”, Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily, December 1 1977.
- “L.A. Detectives Hunt Strangler Clues”, Boca Raton News, December 16 1977.
- “‘Hillside Strangler’ Probe Hampered by Dissension”, Eugene Register-Guard, December 28 1977.
- “Man to Be Charged as Strangler”, Milwaukee Journal, April 24 1979.
- “‘Hillside Strangler’ Suspect Enters Guilty Pleas”, Tuscaloosa News, October 20 1979.
- “‘Strong Connection’ Between Slayings of 2 Prostitutes, 2 Girls Reported to Police”, Los Angeles Times, June 28 1980.
- “Hillside Jury Convicts Man in 3 Deaths”, Palm Beach Post, November 9 1983.
- “Los Angeles Hunts Killer of 10 Women”, Spokane Chronicle, September 24 1985.
- “Man Sought in Slaying of 10 L.A.-Area Prostitutes”, Los Angeles Times, September 24 1985.
- “Prostitute Flees Possible Slayer”, Daily News of Los Angeles, January 11 1986.
- “Serial Killer Link Sought in Slaying”, Oxnard Press-Courier, February 14 1986.
- “Coverage of Prostitute Killings Called Biased”, Daily News of Los Angeles, February 23 1986.
- “Man Who Killed Prostitute Gets 15 Years to Life”, Daily News of Los Angeles, August 22 1992.
- “Slaying Casts Light on Hollywood’s Transgender Prostitutes”, Los Angeles Times, February 4 2013.
- “LA Hotel Where Body Was Found in Water Tank Has Chilling History”, NBC News, February 21 2013.
- “San Fernando Valley Prostitution Is an Ongoing Problem as Officials Work to Control Prostitutes, Pimps”, Huffington Post, October 7 2013.
- “High Court to Hooker’s Cold-Case Killer: No Way You’re Getting Out,” CalNews, Inc., July 22 2015.
State | California |
Type | City |
Population | 3834340 |
Location |
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