VAN NUYS : Anti-Prostitution Program Under Way

A Van Nuys woman has been sentenced to four months in jail for violating a mapping program that bans convicted prostitutes from plying their trade in certain areas of the San Fernando Valley during nighttime hours.

The sentence, the most severe handed down so far for violating the 4-month-old law’s provisions, was imposed Friday on Lillian Romero, 46, for entering the vehicle of a male motorist within a restricted area.

Under Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn’s mapping program, defendants convicted of prostitution in San Fernando Valley courts are given maps on which the restricted areas are marked. They are prohibited from engaging motorists in conversation, soliciting or accepting rides, or being parked in a vehicle with any motorist in those areas between 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Police officers, armed with a list of names and photographs of people who have been given the maps, monitor potential violators in hopes of arresting them before they conduct their business.

“Rather than sit and wait to attempt to catch them engaging in an illegal sex act, officers can jump right in and get these people off the streets without spending so much time,” said Deputy City Atty. Laura Van Eyk, who handles mapping violation cases in Hahn’s Van Nuys office.

Also, “this program is more cost-effective than trying to get an undercover officer in the area and have him be solicited,” Van Eyk said. “Streetwise prostitutes often recognize an officer working undercover and will not attempt a solicitation.”

The mapping program, initiated in Hollywood in April, 1993, was formulated in response to growing street crime and other problems in certain areas attributed in part to prostitution, according to Van Eyk.

Restricted areas in the Valley run along Sherman Way and Sepulveda, Lankershim, Ventura and Reseda boulevards.

Because the program is still in its initial stages, no statistics are available indicating its effectiveness.

“Word will travel quickly among prostitutes that this is serious business, that the police know who they are and are looking out for them,” Van Eyk said.

“But, other than that, it’s hard to tell what the true impact is going to be,” she said. “The first prostitute we arrested (under the Valley program) had a Hollywood map on her, which tells me that they may be just leaving these areas.”