Costa Mesa seeing cleaner massage industry

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Massage parlors being used as fronts for prostitution

are not a huge problem in Costa Mesa anymore -- at least not as huge as

it was about two years ago, officials said.

When Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith, Sgt. Bob Phillips and Det. Keith

Davis were assigned to the task of getting rid of the pseudo-masseuses

four years ago, there were more than a dozen to deal with.

“Today we’re down to just two or three,” said Smith. “And we’re still

working on those.”

They’ve reached this point after hundreds of hours of undercover

operations, citations and even arrests, he said. Massage ordinances

passed by the City Council have also helped and continue to help in

weeding out these illegal and unqualified massage practitioners, Smith

said.

The Council as recently as March 5 changed an already existing massage

law, making it mandatory for all masseuses to go through a rigorous

licensing process to practice in the city. Earlier, the law exempted

state-licensed practitioners.

The revision limits hours of operation restricting massage parlors.

The law now also requires that businesses use only white lights and doors

that cannot be locked.

These, as well as the licensing test, were vital lessons Costa Mesa

learned from Newport Beach, which faced the same problem several years

ago, said Smith.

“This is not a problem that’ll go away,” said Smith. “It just

resurfaces some place else.”

That was probably what happened when Newport Beach started tightening

up its massage laws years ago, he said. The parlors moved to Costa Mesa.

Now that Costa Mesa has followed Newport beach’s lead, it’s Fullerton’s

turn, said Smith.

“They’re learning from us now,” he said of the city of Fullerton.

The key to Newport Beach’s success was the rigorous testing and

licensing, said Kim Reilly, Community Services Officer at Newport Beach

Police’s Vice and Narcotics Department.

“We require background check, fingerprint and testing,” she said.

“That helps us make sure they didn’t get their documents from diploma

mills.”

Newport Beach currently has about 80 massage practitioners, said

Reilly. The department has rejected very few applications over the last

three years, she said.

“The process definitely discourages people who are not legitimate,”

said Reilly.

In Costa Mesa, applicants are required to have 500 hours of training

from a legitimate massage school. The city has also developed its own

test based on Newport Beach’s format and on input from other

practitioners and business owners.

The procedures are not meant to increase red tape or to put up more

barriers for businesses, he said.

“We believe this protects legitimate businesses,” said Smith. “It

definitely gives them more credibility.”