Prostitution is on an uptick on Western Ave.; LAPD’s response
Last month, the Larchmont Chronicle reported about the prostitution problem plaguing the area along Western Avenue and its adjoining residential streets. The Chronicle relayed how the situation is adversely affecting the quality of life for residents throughout the area as well as impacting elementary and middle school students who are forced to see barely clad women every morning en route to school. Many of the women in the area are victims of sex trafficking.
Affected residents have contacted the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as well as Council District 13 to address the issue.
LAPD’s response
SCANTILY CLAD WOMAN in the early morning hours in St. Andrews Square.
Sex trafficking is a multi-pronged problem. LAPD has many different ways of approaching it, according to: Lt. Robert McDonald, LAPD Operations, West Bureau Vice Coordinator, Human Trafficking Task Force; Capt. Rachel Rodriguez of Olympic Community Police Station; and Olympic Division’s local Senior Lead Officer (SLO) Daniel Chavez.
Chavez’s primary focus is the streets closest to the schools – St. Brendan School and Charles Kim Elementary School. He wants to assure safe passage of the kids to their classes and hopefully curtail their seeing the half-naked women on the sidewalks.
To accomplish this, Chavez and other SLOs have shifted their hours to start patrolling at 5 a.m. This ensures they are on duty before the kids go to school.
Capt. Rodriguez said, “We have moved funds around to have additional task force units go out more often.” The station created a brand new team, the Prostitution Enforcement Detail (PED), that started going out into the division areas Dec. 15. It is made up of uniformed officers who work in conjunction with the undercover vice unit.
Dear John Letters
Lt. McDonald told the Chronicle that LAPD is piloting a program called Dear John Letters. With this program, undercover officers watch for vehicle drivers circling particular blocks and engaging in conversations with scantily clad girls. The officers clandestinely take a picture of the interactions and note license plate numbers.
Back at the station, the officers run the license plates and then send a letter and picture to the registered owner of the vehicle. The letter is a reminder that engaging in prostitution is illegal and “you’ve been spotted.” LAPD hopes that the letter, which could end up in the hands of a spouse, is a deterrent.
Legislation
Since the repeal of California Penal Code Section 653.22 (PC 653.22) on Jan. 1, 2023, by legislation sponsored by San Francisco’s state Senator Scott Wiener, police officers can no longer arrest individuals for loitering with the intent of prostitution. The officers have to catch people literally in the act. However, the police have a couple of work-arounds.
One is citing individuals for standing in the middle of a roadway. Another is pulling over drivers who make illegal turns, and another is for car windows that are illegally tinted.
The Chronicle heard from SLO Chavez right before going to press, that — with the increased police presence — LAPD has issued 40 citations and made seven arrests for prostitution.
Western is lined with “no turning” signs, forbidding turns onto residential streets at certain nighttime hours, thanks to the late Councilmember Tom LaBonge. Citations for such infractions have been issued.
As always, LAPD has several undercover vice units, with both male and female officers who pose as sex workers and as their clients, “Johns.” These units go out twice a month under LAPD’s West Bureau jurisdiction and more frequently with Olympic Division.
Additionally, Western is highly patrolled, day and night, with uniformed officers in black and whites for high visibility.
What about indecent exposure?
When talking to Caroline Chiles of Larchmont Village, whose child goes to St. Brendan School, Chiles told us she was mortified to find out from SLO Chavez that “as long as their private parts are covered, the girls cannot be arrested for indecent exposure.” Chiles told us, “the rules right now are ludicrous.”
Chiles believes that Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, which prohibits people from living on the streets within 500 feet of a school, should be expanded to include prostitution and drugs. “Kids don’t deserve to see this, this isn’t reasonable,” she concludes.
Another local resident who lives in St. Andrews Square residential neighborhood, just west of Western Avenue, told us: “It is terrible when kids are walking to school and they have to see several naked women on the streets.”
She continues, “I’ve picked up so many used condoms and wrappers on the sidewalk, street and alley. I’m trying to keep the streets clean for my kids and the kids in our neighborhood. We have three elementary schools right next to each other: St. Brendan School, Charles Kim and Cahuenga Elementary School. It’s getting worse!”
“This is an ongoing problem. It starts as early as 10 p.m. [and continues] until [about] 8 a.m. some mornings.” Driving up and down Western, she says, “You can see a prostitute or two on every other block. I’ve seen condoms at the curbside and on the street at our local library (Wilshire Branch Library).”
Prostitution in Los Angeles
Lt. McDonald, who has worked for LAPD for 37 years, and Capt. Rodriguez concur that there are three main areas in Los Angeles where prostitution takes place: Sepulveda Boulevard corridor in the San Fernando Valley, Figueroa Street in the south end of Los Angeles and here on Western Avenue.
For Western, a majority of the girls are local to Los Angeles, and many are underage and being trafficked. The activity in this area is primarily controlled by gangs. The Johns are also mostly local and are often going to or coming from work. The activity happens primarily from 11 p.m. until 8 or 9 a.m.
Police have been cracking down hard on sex trafficking in the other two areas, according to Lt. McDonald, making it harder for prostitutes to work in those areas. It’s one of the reasons there has been an uptick in activity here.
More about sex trafficking
Journey Out, a Los Angeles nonprofit that helps victims of sex trafficking, states on its website that the average age for entrance into the commercial sex industry is between 12 to 14 years old. More than 85 percent of the youth are victims of childhood molestation. Human trafficking is the world’s third largest crime industry, generating $32 billion per year.
Category: News