Phone Policy Aimed at Drug Dealers OKd
A policy designed to prevent drug dealers from using pay telephones for narcotics transactions was approved by the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday.
The measure sets up procedures for police to identify phones that are being used for illicit purposes, and for phone companies to try various restrictions, such as suspending incoming calls or turning off the phone after 10 p.m., before a public phone is removed.
Once a pay telephone is taken out of service, the policy says no telephone can be placed at that site or nearby for six months. Representatives of the California Pay Phone Assn. and Pacific Bell said they support the policy.
The council also called for a six-month trial of the policy in MacArthur Park, where residents and merchants complain that drug dealers constantly use about 30 phones as curbside offices. Councilman Richard Alatorre said the city would monitor that trial before determining how to proceed citywide.
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