Irate Residents Near Sepulveda Blvd. Combat Prostitution

“I know the lady you were talking to in your car,” the vice squad officer told the middle-aged man. “I know because I’ve arrested her four times for prostitution. I know what you’re doing here and you know what you’re here for.”

The man had picked up the young woman at a bus bench on Sepulveda Boulevard minutes earlier. The two turned into a quiet residential street off the boulevard and had parked in a small apartment parking lot across the street from an elementary school.

When police pulled up, the woman darted out of the car and the man insisted that she had merely asked for a ride.

In vice squad jargon, police call it a “street date,” meaning that sex for money is quickly performed inside a car.

Nearby residents call it repulsive.

Anti-Prostitution Move

On the side streets of Sepulveda Boulevard, from Nordhoff Street to Ventura Boulevard, a movement is growing among hundreds of residents and business people to stop the prostitution that has begun to spill into their neighborhoods.

Neighborhood watch groups are organizing, and petitions have been been circulated and sent to politicians and police. The local Chamber of Commerce has formed an “action committee” on the issue. In the past two weeks police have put a special squad on the boulevard.

Several residents have talked of organizing large protests with posters and placards on corners where prostitutes gather if the situation does not improve.

“Sepulveda Boulevard has turned into the No. 1 spot in the Valley for prostitution,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Arthur Sjoquist. “It’s gotten so bad out there traffic has come to a complete stop because five or six cars are lined up to make a deal.”

‘Deep-Seated Concern’

“There is a crying need for something to be done,” said Mark Lirman, who helped organize a neighborhood watch for residents living near the 6800 block of Sepulveda in Van Nuys. “There is real deep-seated concern about this. I think the community is really going to begin to apply pressure.”

Prostitution along the boulevard has been a longtime problem, in part because of the 30 motels along the strip, some advertising day rates as low as $10 and $12. Also, police said, recent drives to sweep prostitution off Hollywood Boulevard has brought more prostitution to the Valley.

“The Hollywood cleanups have resulted in a lot of the business coming out here,” Sjoquist said. “Sepulveda Boulevard seems to be somewhat famous in the same way that Hollywood Boulevard is.”

Since January, Van Nuys Division police have arrested 376 adults on suspicion of prostitution and related offenses such as lewd conduct and obstructing traffic. By the end of the year, police said, they expect more than 600 arrests to be made, about a 23% increase over 1984.

Arrests Quadruple

Prostitution arrests have more than quadrupled in the Van Nuys Division since 1980, when 96 arrests were made. For the past two years, police have conducted at least four undercover enforcement operations a year, which, along with their regular patrols, yielded 427 arrests in 1983 and 460 arrests in 1984.

It has been in the last six to nine months that both residents and police say the street dates have dramatically increased in the residential areas off Sepulveda Boulevard.

“I think they want to stay off the boulevard and hit the side streets because they can talk longer and negotiate a price without being seen,” said Duane Hensel, who lives one block away from Sepulveda Boulevard.

Pauline Purnell, the office manager of United Methodist Church of Sepulveda, said she was particularly offended when street dates began to occur in the church parking lot in the afternoon.

‘I Was Outraged’

“It was repulsive,” she said. “First it was a truck and they parked in the back lot. Then it was a van, then it was a car. They just kept parking closer and closer to the street--more out in the open. I didn’t know what to do. Finally, I went out there and stared right at them and they left.”

“I was outraged,” said Maxine Shuh, who lives several houses away from the boulevard. “They were using my front yard for their place of business. The girls would sit on the curb in front of my house and the men would drive by slowly and pick them up.

“There are used condoms all over the street,” Shuh said. “Several times I have seen children playing up and down the street saying, ‘Ooooh, there’s one; ooooh, there’s one.’ I feel like I have to guard my girls. I never let them out of the house alone.”

Further fueling the residents’ anger is that men seeking prostitutes often proposition neighborhood women or make lewd offers to teen-age girls.

“Ladies from the neighborhood just walking to the market get hit on by guys right off the bat,” said Officer Jack Aquino. Police said that, because Sepulveda Boulevard prostitutes generally dress casually in shorts, tennis shoes or sun dresses, it is hard to know the difference between a woman simply waiting to cross the street or a woman waiting to be picked up for paid sex.

“The tricks will keep asking up and down the street until they find one,” Aquino said. After months of harassment from “tricks” and bold street dates outside their homes, a group of residents organized a meeting with police about three weeks ago. About 75 people crammed into Mark and Judi Lirman’s living room for the session.

“There were people who wanted to come in but saw that there wasn’t any more room in the house,” Mark Lirman said. “Everybody was surprised to find out that they weren’t the only ones who were angry. Basically, I think people felt that they had to draw the line on this when it started affecting their children, their wives, their property. “

Residents were told to call police when they suspect someone of soliciting or engaging in prostitution.

‘Not a Top Priority’

“We do log the calls; we do try to investigate,” Sjoquist said. “But people have got to understand that vice is not a top priority and we are limited in what we can do.”

At the same time, the Panorama City-Sepulveda Chamber of Commerce was organizing a Sepulveda Action Committee to combat the problem.

About 200 business people and residents signed a petition calling for legislation that would ban men and women from soliciting or accepting rides from motorists on certain streets and would toughen bail requirements for those arrested on suspicion of prostitution.

“I admit it’s a huge undertaking and we know we can’t expect a law like this just for prostitution in the area,” said Carl Seastrom, leader of the committee. “But we had to take a first step. This is the beginning and the community is together on fighting this.”

Most Freed on Bail

Because prostitution is a misdemeanor, suspects arrested on suspicion of this offense and any other misdemeanor generally are released by posting 10% cash bail--about $50--if they have identification and no outstanding arrest warrants.

“Bail is considered part of their operating expenses,” Sjoquist said. “Unfortunately, arrest is not much of a deterrent for prostitution.”

Frustrated residents at a recent Van Nuys Homeowners Assn. meeting did not receive much hope for quick solutions from Councilman Ernani Bernardi.

“I know this sounds negative,” Bernardi said, “but I don’t know what else can be done. Prostitution is a very uncomfortable and awkward problem. Police have to personally hear and see the transaction take place to make an arrest. Occasionally, police will run a sweep.”

High-Visibility Approach

Sjoquist said that, although undercover operations took prostitution off the street for a few days, the overall impact is like “shoveling sand against the tide.”

In response to the recent outcry, Van Nuys police have turned to a high-visibility approach to enforcement along the boulevard. They call it the VET Car, for Vice Enforcement Team, and in past months two vice officers have been patrolling the boulevard, identifying and warning suspected prostitutes and tricks.

“If this succeeds, the high-visibility approach will result in fewer arrests but will scare the prostitution away,” Sjoquist said. “But I doubt if we can do much more than we are doing now. The vice unit will not be increased in size.”

Some residents and merchants said they already have noticed a decrease.

“There seems to be a real turnaround recently,” said Mel Beaver, owner of a convenience store at Nordhoff Street and Sepulveda Boulevard. “It got to a point a while ago that I was walking around armed, there was so much trouble on this corner. But I think the continual police presence is making it hot out on the street.”

‘We’ll Protest’

Lirman and several other residents with the crime watch group said they were surprised to see police patrols.

“I think the feeling is that the burden can’t only be with police. According to police, all we are supposed to do is call and report,” Lirman said. “We’ve talked of volunteer patrols. If things don’t improve, I know this sounds militant, but it could get confrontational. We’ll protest in front of motels and on the street corners. What else can we do?”

“I think the only way to stop this,” Beaver said, “is for everyone up and down this boulevard to continually put the pressure on.”