Los Angeles deputies aim to quell tide of human trafficking
Posted December 18, 2017 6:00 am
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) - Los Angeles County is trying something new to get women out of the sex trade.
The nation's most populous county is widely regarded as the U.S. epicenter for human trafficking, mostly women forced into prostitution.
The sheriff's department is aiming to get handcuffs on the traffickers and the men who pay for sex while providing the help women and girls need to leave the sex trade.
The technique was on display recently in Compton. While deputies arrested 17 men who solicited undercover officers, the seven women and a 13-year-old girl who were being trafficked were met by counselors who provided information on emergency housing, social services and legal help.
Captain Chris Marks said police don't want to arrest the women - they want them to have the tools to get off the streets.
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, before an undercover sting operation, a sheriff's deputy who will pose as a prostitute listens at a briefing in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, a sheriff's deputy who posed as a prostitute fills out a report on the arrest of a suspect in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, a man arrested as part of an undercover prostitution sting operation is booked in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, as the man who propositioned her is arrested, background, an undercover sheriff's deputy posing as a prostitute returns to a car that will take her back to operation headquarters in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, an undercover sheriff's deputy posing as a prostitute talks with a man who stopped to talk with her in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. He never uttered the magic words that would have gotten him arrested and went on his way. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, an undercover sheriff's deputy talks to a man who pulled over to talk with her in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, an undercover sheriff's deputy posing as a prostitute waits on a corner in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 photo, a man arrested as part of an undercover prostitution sting operation waits to be booked in a holding room at operation headquarters in Compton, Calif., a city some 15 miles south of Los Angeles. For hours, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies listen to the same scenario play out over and over: men pull up alongside a woman pacing in front of an abandoned storefront in Compton and proposition her to have sex with him. They soon found themselves in handcuffs. The women were undercover Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies posing as prostitutes in a sting operation aimed at stemming the demand in the commercial sex industry. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The Associated Press
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