Police Free Forces to Fight Vice on Sepulveda

Prostitution on Sepulveda Boulevard has proved too big a burden for the five vice officers and two supervisors assigned to the Van Nuys Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

So Cmdr. Ken Hickman, acting chief of the department’s Valley Bureau, has declared Sepulveda Boulevard a “free zone,” in the sense, he said, that he has authorized officers from the Valley’s four other divisions to help patrol the boulevard, which police say accounted for about 95% of the prostitution arrests in the Valley last year.

Hickman, who commands all five Valley jurisdictions, wants the bureau’s West Valley, Devonshire, Foothill and North Hollywood divisions to use the boulevard as a place for rookie officers to practice their undercover vice-control techniques.

“We tell the officers they’ll gain some experience; the public will benefit, and the whore will learn a lesson,” Hickman said.

Van Nuys Division Capt. Art Sjoquist, who worked with Hickman in devising the plan, said: “We’ve had a long history of prostitution there, and it’s getting worse. We can’t do it with five officers and two supervisors.”

Latest Strategy

The plan, which officially went into effect May 6, is the latest attempt to at least diminish the number of hookers who frequent the area, disturbing merchants and homeowners.

Hickman said it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the new policy because the Van Nuys Division is not notified when officers from elsewhere patrol the boulevard.

A similar maneuver was employed last year on South Figueroa Boulevard and proved successful, Hickman said. At that time, a designated patrol was allowed to police the entire length of Figueroa, which runs through Southeast, Southwest and 77th divisions.

Deputy Chief Jesse Brewer, who commands the South Bureau, which is composed of four divisions, said the number of violent crimes had dropped and boasted of “the total elimination of visible prostitution in the area.”

Hickman said he hopes that increasing the number of officers on Sepulveda Boulevard, alerting police radio cars and requesting the cooperation of motels frequented by prostitutes will stem the proliferation of hookers.

Sjoquist has no illusions that the “free zone” designation alone will put an end to prostitution on Sepulveda Boulevard.

“We’ve tried all kinds of things, and this isn’t going to solve the problem either,” Sjoquist said. “But, hopefully, it will help.”

‘Big Reputation’

“Sepulveda Boulevard is getting a big reputation for prostitution and, as the warmer months come on, the problem has to worsen even further,” Sjoquist said.

“It’s not just a Van Nuys problem, it’s a Valley problem,” he added. “The narcotics, the crime, the tricks . . . they come from all over the Valley.”

Officers have occasionally been recruited from other divisions to assist in undercover operations, Sjoquist said, but now they are invited to cruise the boulevard “whenever they can spare the time.”

“An officer can come over practically any time, night or day, and make an arrest,” he said.

Using undercover police from other divisions is beneficial, he said, because they are not as easily recognized as Van Nuys Division officers, who may have already patrolled the boulevard.

Van Nuys Division vice officers plan to stage a weeklong crackdown on prostitution in the area beginning May 27, Sjoquist said. The officers will work 12-hour shifts, with their overtime being paid by a $15,000 contribution from City Councilman Ernani Bernardi.