Motor officers arrest a man who propositioned a decoy officer in a prostitution sting on March 6, , in Sun Valley. LAPD officers from the Foothill Station ran the sting operation with a female decoy officer portraying a prostitute. The johns were arrested after they approached an undercover officer, propositioned her and offered to pay for sex. A white Ford F cruises into the parking lot of a nondescript strip mall across from the train tracks on San Fernando Road in Pacoima.
The driver, a heavyset guy — built like a linebacker, clad in a Michael Vick jersey and jeans — lumbers out and then pauses. A brunette in tight jeans and high heels standing on the corner has caught his eye. He takes a good long moment to look her up and down, then ducks into the convenience store. After his purchase, he backs up his truck and pulls up alongside the woman. The two chat, a deal is struck, and he heads out of the parking lot to meet her on a dimly lit side street.
A handful of main drags in the city are plagued by prostitutes walking the streets at all hours, and men cruising for them with little regard for the legality or impact on the community. The woman is an undercover cop, part of a periodic police task force designed to send a message to the streets.
With a furtive gesture, the brunette in tight jeans had signaled other officers that the man had solicited her for prostitution. But being arrested may not have been the worst thing to happen to him this evening. As officers order the man out of his truck and pat him down, an older woman charges down the street toward the scene yelling, followed by a second, younger woman and a little boy and girl.
That hardly fazes Sgt. City and county employees in their taxpayer-owned vehicles. Los Angeles police and prosecutors are cracking down on prostitution. But this time they have a new mindset. They are targeting johns and pimps more often and with harsher penalties, but aiming to treat the women as victims of sex trafficking who need counseling and a way off the streets more than a night in jail.
