Los Angeles city and county leaders, along with federal officials, briefed the public Wednesday on actions being taken on a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of road that authorities say is ground zero for human trafficking.

At the downtown press conference, officials detailed their collective crackdown on the illegal activity on a three-and-a-half mile stretch of South Figueroa Street, from Gage Avenue to the 110 Freeway, where authorities found at least one victim as young as 11 years old. 

This situation is an absolute travesty and it was totally predictable. In 2022 the California Legislation passed SB 357 and it was signed into law by Gov. Newsom effective January 2023. This bill rewrote the penal code so that law enforcement could not intervene with loitering for street prostitution. It is an adult bill but it is nearly impossible for law enforcement to tell the age of someone on the street with make-up on, so often minors are not spotted in the street activity.

Very shortly after this bill went into effect, California residents began to see a significant increase in women being brought in from other states and foreign countries and put out on the streets to sell sex. Cities like National City, San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento suddenly were turned into sex solicitation tracks. As a advocate that does public speaking I personally witnessed the lines of women lined up at 9 AM in front of business and the Naval Station. Most were wearing very little clothing and you could watch as the pimps came by checking on the girls. In some towns businesses and schools had to shut down. 

A couple of months ago, as President and CEO of Million Kids, I testified before the Public Safety Committee in Sacramento trying to make a process where law enforcement could have a path for intervention. The bill did not pass. At that time, Senator Weiner noted that he believed that the stories of massive increases in street prostitution are a lie or are greatly exaggerated.

I am grateful that Figueroa Blvd is finally getting some attention. This did not just suddenly happen in a vacuum. The laws that were passed by the state government are responsible for creating this travesty. I am grateful for what is happening but that is just the starting point. They need to change the law so that law enforcement can intervene and assist these victims with a path to get out of this horrific life. To pretend that this is not really happening is a travesty, and a situation that our legislators created.