VAN NUYS : Prostitutes Told to Avoid Specific Areas

Two convicted prostitutes Thursday became the first women in the San Fernando Valley to be ordered to avoid high-crime neighborhoods as part of a new program to crack down on streetwalking.

Jan Greene, 42, of North Hollywood and Regina Garcia, 44, of Sun Valley both pleaded no contest Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to misdemeanor charges of prostitution. It was the first prostitution conviction for each.

Judge Martin Suits sentenced each woman to two days in County Jail, ordered them to submit to AIDS tests and placed them on probation for one year.

As part of their probation, Greene and Garcia became the first convicted prostitutes in the Valley to be handed maps that detail areas associated with prostitution. The women are prohibited from talking to motorists, sitting in parked cars or loitering between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“They both received the three-page map outlining the area they are supposed to stay away from,” Deputy City Atty. Kenneth D. Tso said.

Police will maintain a list of everyone who receives the map following a prostitution conviction and will be able to arrest women engaged in suspicious activity in the prohibited areas. Those arrested will be charged with violating probation and could be sentenced to jail for up to six months.

Authorities insist that Greene, Garcia and those to be convicted in the future are not being banned from any area. Rather, they are prohibited from activities most often associated with prostitution.

The areas detailed on the map include most of Sepulveda, Ventura, Lankershim and Reseda boulevards.

A similar program became effective last year in Hollywood, and authorities said it has had a noticeable effect there.