South LA neighborhood moves to action against prostitution



image
Tanya Stone protests the deterioration of her neighborhood. She fights for her children that are exposed to prostitution everyday.

Tanya Stone first noticed prostitution in her neighborhood about a year ago when she left for work at 6 a.m.

“We got kids to send to school… we don’t want to see that,” said Stone, 48, who lives near Western Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard.

Carrying a sign reading “End Slavery Now,” Stone was one of a small group of people protesting outside FAME Renaissance on Tuesday night, while more than 60 community residents and stakeholders gathered inside to discuss new initiatives against prostitution along Western Boulevard.

Organized by the LAPD and the Neighborhood Watch Against Prostitution, the meeting marked a tonal shift from informing neighborhood residents about the progress law enforcement and city officials are making against prostitution to offering ways the community can take action and get involved.

“Now, they’re coming on and saying, ‘What can we do?’” said LAPD Sgt. McGuyre, who heads the Southwest station’s vice unit, which handles prostitution-related crimes.

In 2011, LAPD Southwest made 300 prostitution-related arrests, a 39 percent increase from the previous year. About 40 percent of the total arrests were near 29th Street and Western Avenue.

We are “taking our community back as our community. We’re here to talk about how you can assist us,” said Tracy Hauter, LAPD senior lead officer for the Adams neighborhood. Hauter emphasized that the public comments portion of the meeting was not a “griping” session, but a time for those affected to make important suggestions.

image
LAPD Captain Melissa Zak, CD 8 North Area Representative Cathy Davis, City Attorney Sharee Sanders, and LAPD Senior Lead Officer Tracy Haute answer community questions at the meeting on Tuesday night at FAME Renaissance.

D’Lita Miller, 37, hoped to see the community take a more preventative instead of punitive approach. At 15 years old, Miller became a prostitute to support herself. About a decade ago, she left the trade. She now works as a family support and outreach coordinator for Saving Innocence, a non-profit that rescues underage victims of sex trafficking.

“Let’s not approach them as enemies. Let’s approach them as people that need help,” Miller said.

The last major community meeting on prostitution was held in June 2011, but some residents complained they haven’t seen much happen since then.

Cathy Davis, North Area field deputy for Councilman Bernard Parks, said their offices have worked on increasing lighting and trimming trees, but that severe budget limitations have reduced staff and resources.

The city budget allows for 300 trees for each council district, which equates to about 50 trees for the North Area neighborhood.

In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Parks’ office prioritized tree trimming on Hobart Boulevard between 29th Street and 30th Street based on community complaints. However, Davis could not give an exact date when the tree trimming would take place and offered only a June 30th deadline.

Parks’ office is also working on creating billboards to raise awareness of the problem. Chief of staff Bernard Parks Jr., invited the community to voice their ideas on the content of the advertisement.

image
A protestor organizes against prostitution outside FAME Renaissance.

Other suggestions discussed were creating a website showcasing photos of johns, writing letters to johns if they’ve been spotted in a high-prostitution area, and putting up surveillance cameras and signs against prostitution.

Andrea Canty, education representative of the North Area Neighborhood Development Council however, stressed the need for less talk and more concrete results. NANDC covers the area between the 10 Freeway and Martin Luther King Boulevard from the 110 Freeway to Arlington Avenue.

“I wanted to see a plan of action [from the last meeting]… I wanted to see some tangibles,” said Canty, who hoped to use Tuesday’s meeting to recruit community members to join action committees.

Canty created the publicity and communication, tree trimming, surveillance, city services, church outreach and john letter writing committees to turn words into action.

“I have more confidence in the neighborhood,” Canty said. “We can make it happen because we are the ones who live here.”

David Chiu, who lives near Adams Boulevard and Western Avenue, felt encouraged by the meeting.

“It sounds like there’s an actual plan,” Chiu said.

LAPD and the Neighborhood Watch Against Prostitution plan to hold monthly meetings on the third Tuesday night. The next meeting is March 20 at 6:30pm at FAME Renaissance 1968 W. Adams Blvd.