Santa Ana : Police Plan New Step in Anti-Prostitution Drive

The city’s increased efforts against prostitution will get another boost this weekend when police start releasing to the press the names of both prostitutes and would-be customers they arrest, police officials said Monday.

Lt. Jim Davis, commander of the district that includes Harbor Boulevard between McFadden Avenue and 17th Street, where the problem is concentrated, said the intensified enforcement comes in response to complaints from residents and the business community. Those complaints range from high school girls being solicited by men seeking sex for money to prostitutes conducting business in parked cars, he said.

Santa Ana police made about 250 arrests for prostitution in 1984. Already this year, half that number have been arrested, said Lt. Greg Cooper, in charge of special investigations. Additionally, last year’s suspects were almost all women, while this year, those arrested are evenly split between male customers and female prostitutes, he said.

In a Monday morning briefing with reporters, police placed the Harbor Boulevard prostitutes into two distinct categories: the local narcotic addict who takes to the streets out of desperation, and the professional who is from out of town. The women are usually between 19 and 40 years old, they said.

Perhaps the biggest problem faced by Santa Ana officers is that while prostitutes frequent Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland in Anaheim south to Garden Grove and Santa Ana, bail in the three cities is inconsistent. Cases stemming from Anaheim are heard in North Court, where the bail is set at $5,000. But in Garden Grove, where cases are heard in West Court, and Santa Ana, which falls under Central Court jurisdiction, bail is only $1,500--”a unique problem,” Cooper said.

Suspects can usually expect to put up 10% cash to bail themselves out. Also, to keep from becoming known as repeat offenders, the women often don’t carry identification and use different names in all three courts, he said.