Vice Squads Have Mixed Success in West Hollywood

Repeated prostitution arrests and undercover vice operations by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in recent months have led to the closing of several West Hollywood massage parlors that had flourished since the mid-1970s.

But a similar drive to crack down on adult film arcades on Santa Monica Boulevard suffered a setback 10 days ago when the West Hollywood City Council passed a law allowing arcades to remain open 24 hours a day. The council revised the law after one arcade sued the city to overturn an ordinance limiting the arcade’s business hours.

The mixed success of the recent police vice operations in West Hollywood indicates the difficulty law enforcement agencies have in policing a community supported by an entertainment industry that caters to adult night life.

A night-life area since the 1920s, West Hollywood contains the network of nightclubs and restaurants that line Sunset Boulevard and dozens of gay-oriented bars and discotheques clustered along Santa Monica Boulevard.

Night-Life Tradition

“West Hollywood has always been a very adult and tolerant community,” said West Hollywood council member John Heilman. “It’s a center of night life. I’m sure that enters the minds of owners of adult businesses.”

Although the City Council imposed a temporary moratorium on new building permits last November--the freeze is still in place--council members and law enforcement officials say there have been indications that owners of adult-oriented businesses are pushing to expand operations in the city.

During last November’s City Council campaign, owners of massage parlors--which are subject to the restrictions that once governed film arcades--indicated to several candidates that they preferred no restrictions.

According to sheriff’s deputies, the city’s three adult film arcades have increased operations to 24 hours a day. Law enforcement officials also say that some commercial landowners have been approached by adult arcade owners interested in adding new locations--despite West Hollywood’s building moratorium.

‘Always Testing You’

“One or two of these locations always attract others,” said Lt. Jerry Stern, a member of the Sheriff’s Department vice unit who worked in the West Hollywood area in much of the 1970s. “They’re always testing you to see how much you’ll allow.”

At least two of West Hollywood’s massage parlors may not be around to do much testing in the future. Circus Maximus, a nationally advertised massage parlor that had survived on a hilly La Cienega Boulevard location since 1970, and the Koyoto Spa were closed in the last two months.

Circus Maximus, which took in a daily gross of $8,000, according to Sheriff’s Department estimates, reportedly ceased operations in late April after a long string of police arrests, mostly for prostitution, had been ineffective in forcing it to close. In recent months, sheriff’s deputies had started legal proceedings against the massage parlor for not possessing a conditional use permit allowing it to remain in business.

Ironically, according to law enforcement officials, Circus Maximus was finally evicted not by police but by civil proceedings initiated by the landlord who owns the property in the 1200 block of North La Cienega Boulevard.

13 Arrests at Spa

Sheriff’s deputies closed the Koyoto Spa for lacking a conditional use permit. Between January and late March of this year, police made 13 prostitution-related arrests at the spa. Then, on March 29, officers closed it.

Stern of the sheriff’s vice unit said he would not be surprised if owners of both clubs try to reopen. He said Circus Maximus would have to find a new location. “I suppose they’d take advantage of anything that came along,” he said.

Although the closing of the two spas leaves open only one known massage parlor in West Hollywood--Beverly Hills Massage in the 8500 block of Santa Monica Boulevard--at least one council member indicated that massage parlor owners were interested in increasing their hours of operation.

Council member Alan Viterbi said he was contacted before the November election by an attorney who said he represented Circus Maximus and Beverly Hills Massage. He said the attorney told him the owners wanted to contribute money to his campaign in return for his support for a bill that would have allowed them to increase their hours. Viterbi said he turned down the offer.

No Further Offers

Thus far, council members said, there have been no further efforts by the massage parlors to change the city’s laws--which keep spas closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Adult film arcades have had an easier time challenging restrictions on operating hours. The arcades were prohibited by county law, adopted by West Hollywood soon after it incorporated last fall, from staying open between 10:30 p.m. and 9:30 a.m.

But the law governing the arcades was apparently weakened by a 1980 California Supreme Court ruling that voided a similar Los Angeles city law restricting arcade hours.

Roger Jon Diamond, an attorney for Casanova’s Adult World, an arcade in the 7700 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, said that since 1980 sheriff’s deputies had rarely enforced the time limits on the arcades. As a result, he said, “they began moving toward 24-hour operations.”

Crackdown in March

But last March, sheriff’s deputies began citing West Hollywood’s three known film arcades for remaining open past the 10:30 p.m. curfew. On April 12, deputies from the Special Problems Unit of the West Hollywood station cited Casanova’s manager for violating the ordinance.

Less than a week later, the arcade, represented by Diamond, sued West Hollywood for applying an unconstitutional law and requested an injunction against further “police harassment.” Discussions between Diamond and City Atty. Michael Jenkins led to an agreement under which West Hollywood agreed to revise the law, allowing 24-hour operations if the arcade withdrew the lawsuit and claims against the city.

But the arcades have done more than simply try to increase hours. Civic leaders and law enforcement officials said that in the six months since West Hollywood incorporated, arcade owners have tried to set up more adult-oriented businesses in the area.

In one case, strong protests by merchants in the 8800 block of Santa Monica Boulevard may have headed off a recent attempt to open an adult film and book arcade there.

Need Permit, License

Bill Larkin, a former council candidate and attorney, said he and other merchants protested plans by Drake’s After Midnight, a 24-hour arcade in the 7500 block of Melrose Avenue, to open a location on Santa Monica. Although Larkin said he was not certain what kind of store Drake’s intended to set up, the firm’s Melrose Avenue location houses adult books and a film arcade.

“Our opinion was that places like that attract an undesirable element and we didn’t want people hanging in front and around the alleys all night long,” Larkin said.

Larkin said that Drake’s and any other arcade interested in moving into West Hollywood would have to obtain a conditional use permit and an adult bookstore license. “Obviously, these kinds of places look for any opportunity to move in,” he said. “Luckily for us, there are procedures they have to follow. Otherwise, they could turn our downtown into a sleazy area overnight.”

Arcade owners and supporters object to those characterizations. Diamond said Casanova’s owner, Joe Valenti, “runs a clean operation and doesn’t disturb the neighbors.”

Male Prostitutes

But police tend to agree with Larkin’s assessment. “The film arcades are always attracting male prostitutes,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Scott, who was involved in bringing citations against Casanova’s. “If they can’t turn tricks in someone’s car, they’ll do it in an arcade. They use the arcades as cheap motel rooms. They cost only a few quarters.”

Scott and Deputy Early Lincoln, who ran West Hollywood’s Special Problems Unit, say they have frequently encountered male hustlers using arcade screening rooms to entertain clients.

“The managers of the joints usually turn a blind eye to it,” Lincoln said. “You end up with hustlers hanging out in front of these places. That’s why you get all the complaints from stores nearby.”

With the arcades now allowed to open for 24 hours, West Hollywood officials are looking for other methods to control their operations. Councilman Viterbi, who lives five blocks from an adult film arcade, suggested that a strong city business licensing commission could regulate adult businesses.

Fear of Crime Syndicates

“You can’t always keep these businesses out, but you can make sure that they are well-regulated and not connected with any organized crime syndicates,” Viterbi said.

Although there has been no solid evidence connecting any of the area’s adult-oriented businesses with organized crime factions, Viterbi said a strong licensing commission could ensure that even the most tenuous links prevent adult-oriented businesses from receiving city approval.

“I think that’s the route we’ll go in the future,” he said. “I don’t think the citizens of this area want that kind of business here.”