Pay-Phone Restrictions Planned

In an effort to discourage drug dealers from using public phones to negotiate sales, the Hawthorne City Council voted unanimously to restrict pay phones in certain areas of the city to outgoing calls only.

The plan, proposed two weeks ago by Councilwoman Ginny Lambert, was approved by the council Monday night.

Under the ordinance, the city will restrict all public pay phones in areas where the Police Department has had the most complaints about loitering and narcotics sales. These areas are along Imperial Highway, between Inglewood and Doty Avenues; along Rosecrans Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, and along El Segundo Boulevard between Hawthorne Boulevard and Yukon Avenue.

Hawthorne Police Capt. Richard Prentice said the ordinance will take effect March 28, and the phones most likely will be converted to one-way calls before the end of April.

In 1988, GTE officials converted 20 phones in Venice near Ocean Front Walk and Horizon Avenue, and police said last fall that the number of complaints of late-night drug dealing at the phones had dropped.

Last October, the Inglewood City Council approved a program that urges private property owners to restrict certain phones to outgoing calls. Police officials said 13 phones have been modified. Councilman Jose Fernandez, who introduced the plan, said initial reports from the police indicate that the plan has reduced the use of public phones for drug transactions.