Arrest Total Hits 166 as Police End 5-Day Prostitution Sweep
Los Angeles police ended their five-day crackdown on prostitution in the San Fernando Valley with a sweep early Sunday morning that resulted in 47 arrests and brought the total number of arrests to 166.
The final phase of the operation began at 4 p.m. Saturday and ended about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Forty-one men were arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution and five women were booked on prostitution charges, police said.
One additional man was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession, authorities added.
The crackdown was focused on a seven-mile section Sepulveda Boulevard through the communities of Mission Hills, Sepulveda and Van Nuys. Female officers posing as prostitutes and backed by uniformed police arrested would-be male customers accused of soliciting them.
Plainclothes male detectives with concealed tape recorders arrested suspected prostitutes, police said.
Sgt. Charles Meter of the Van Nuys Division said, “Most of the area’s prostitutes moved here when police started cracking down on them in Hollywood.” He added that although the Van Nuys prostitution problem is not as bad as that in Hollywood, the current sweep will not eradicate the problem.
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