City Attorney Announces Plan to Crack Down on Prostitutes : Crime: The program allows judges to prohibit convicted hookers, as a condition of probation, from engaging in certain activities in specific ‘hot spots.’

A new program to curb prostitution on San Fernando Valley streets was unveiled by Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn on Thursday, who said it would also help cut down on drug trafficking and other crimes.

But civil rights lawyers expressed concern about the program, which allows Valley-based uniformed officers to arrest certain prostitutes on a probation violation simply for attracting traffic during evening hours.

A similar program is already in effect in Hollywood. Both programs allow judges to prohibit convicted hookers from engaging in certain activities in specific “hot spots” as a condition of their probation.

“It expands the number of cops that can have an impact on prostitution by tenfold,” said Capt. James McMurray of the Van Nuys Station, which patrols crime-ridden areas along Sepulveda Boulevard.

“We want to keep them from returning to the same area where they have already got relationships with motel owners and make them go somewhere else where it may not be as easy to set up shop,” said Hahn, who believes the program will also reduce street crime.

But lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union voiced concerns about the program.

“The ACLU maintains that these conditions must be narrowly tailored to meet the needs of the society and the needs of the defendant,” said Alan Friel, staff attorney for the organization. “We’re concerned that the policy may be over-broad and we’ll be monitoring its application.”

Hahn said careful consideration was given to ensure that civil rights are not violated. “It’s not the Wild West stay-outta-town condition,” he said. “We’re not banishing them from areas on the map, we’re just restricting them from participating in the precursor to prostitution activity in those areas.”

Under the old system, police and prosecutors said, convicted prostitutes were often able to return to the same profitable street corner and resume business.

“As it’s been for some time, prostitutes have not been afraid of patrol officers who needed vice to come in and catch the girls in the act,” said Lt. John Waters, vice coordinator for the Valley Bureau. “Now, if they see a girl in the area, patrol officers can take action.”

With the new program, defendants who are convicted of prostitution in Van Nuys Municipal Court will be given maps marked with the areas where they will be forbidden to talk to, solicit or accept rides from motorists between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 a.m. During those hours, they will also not be allowed to sit in a parked car in those areas with a motorist.

Patrol officers will be given lists of probationers banned from the areas.

Punishment for a violation will vary with each defendant’s initial probation, according to Deputy City Atty. Laura Van Eyk, who works out of Hahn’s criminal branch in the Van Nuys Courthouse.

For example, a prostitute originally sentenced to six months probation could end up serving six months unserved jail time upon a conviction under the program, Van Eyk said.

The geographical areas in which the restrictions apply are corridors of prostitution activity along Sepulveda Boulevard, Sherman Way, Lankershim Boulevard, Ventura Boulevard and Reseda Boulevard. The affected communities include Canoga Park, North Hills, North Hollywood, Northridge, Panorama City, Reseda, Sherman Oaks, Studio City and Van Nuys.

The maps were drawn by the city attorney’s office with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Although Hahn could produce no statistics on the Hollywood effort, he said the program there drove away many hard-core prostitutes, as well as the drug dealers who accompanied them.

“It did have a dramatic effect on the visible streetwalking prostitution problem in Hollywood and we hope the same thing happens in the San Fernando Valley,” Hahn said. “We hope that by reducing the visual streetwalking, that’s going to reduce a lot of other types of street crime.”

Last year deputy city attorneys at the Van Nuys Courthouse prosecuted a total of 416 prostitution cases. According to Deputy City Atty. Richard Schmidt, the number of prostitution cases this year is running 25% higher.

Hahn said the program could be expanded to other areas of the Valley, depending upon its success.