DATE: Sunday, August 17, 1997               TAG: 9708170097

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  133 lines

WAR ON PROSTITUTION TARGETS MOTEL OWNERS NORFOLK ORDINANCE PUTS PRESSURE ON OWNERS OF ``BAWDY'' MOTELS, HOTELS AND OTHER BUILDINGS.

``The signal is being sent, at least to the locals, that we're tired of it.''

- RUSS LOYD, PINEWELL

It's the newest weapon in the city's growing arsenal in the war on prostitution.

In the past two weeks, owners of seven properties - mostly hotels and motels - have received letters from the city notifying them that they are operating bawdyhouses. The letters warn the owners that they can be held accountable for prostitution or drug activities in their buildings.

What's more, if they don't correct the problem, the city can seize and demolish the buildings, the letters say.

This is the latest tactic in a long-running effort to drive the world's oldest profession out of town, especially in Ocean View. The campaign has involved city officials, residents, police and legislators.

The move has pleased many who say they are seeing a drop in prostitution in Ocean View, a problem that has plagued residents and confounded officials for years.

``The signal is being sent, at least to the locals, that we're tired of it,'' said Russ Loyd, who has lived in Pinewell, near Ocean View, nearly eight years. ``It really takes the citizen, our police and legislators and judges doing the job.''

Loyd is not alone in feeling some relief that prostitutes are less visible in Ocean View. City officials say the vigorous effort to push out prostitution, particularly in East Ocean View, is putting a significant dent in the crime. The combined effort has worked like this:

Neighbors are banding together and letting the city know they are sick of prostitution and the bad reputation of Ocean View. For months, they have met in committees to come up with solutions, such as jotting down the license numbers of suspected johns and hotels that appear to welcome prostitution. They pass the information on to police.

Police vice officers have run multiple sweeps through Ocean View, targeting prostitutes and johns. Statistics for the first half of 1997 show more than 200 prostitutes and johns arrested in the city.

The City Council made one of its boldest moves late last month when it enacted an ordinance to put pressure on the owners of bawdyhouses, mostly motels suspected of catering to prostitution and drugs.

Under the ordinance, owners of targeted buildings are sent at least two notices within a 45-day period warning them to take corrective action. If the property owners do not respond, the city could board up or bulldoze the structures. The city then would send the owners a bill to recover the costs.

Officials said this is the first time such an ordinance has been enacted in the city.

The seven property owners contacted by the city have until Aug. 25 to reply. Many already have, said Councilman W. Randy Wright.

``I've heard back from them,'' Wright said last week. ``They said they were willing to cooperate to the fullest.''

The names of the owners and locations of the buildings were not available.

Wright said the ordinance gives the city more muscle to drive away prostitution and drugs, especially in buildings that have had a reputation for harboring illicit activities.

It's too early to determine how effective the letters will be or whether any buildings will be demolished. But residents and officials see the campaign as a big step in a year that has already seen major changes.

In another recent move, the City Council approved an ordinance mandating AIDS tests for convicted prostitutes.

``I think this is pretty significant stuff,'' Wright said. ``I drive through Ocean View virtually daily, and the activity is just not there.''

Residents and officials said there was a time when a resident could walk outside and see sexual activity in cars, fights among prostitutes, or motorists speeding around the streets trying to pick up women.

But now - thanks largely to police sweeps - the problem seems to be fading, at least in Ocean View. Now officials are hoping the problem is not merely moving elsewhere.

According to police statistics, from Feb. 28 to June 30, 229 prostitutes and johns were arrested and charged with 545 crimes, including prostitution, solicitation and various narcotics charges.

For all of 1996, 359 people were arrested for ``prostitution and commercialized vice,'' police statistics show. The numbers reflect arrests across the city, not just Ocean View.

``Prostitution is a corruptive force, and it also corrupts young women,'' police spokesman Larry Hill said. ``And prostitution fosters other crimes as well, especially drug activity.

``In addition, it presents a health risk,'' he said.

Prostitution is a battle, then, against the crime and the image that accompanies it. Most of the city still looks at Ocean View as the place to go if you want a hooker, Loyd said.

But now, he said, ``we are seeing less women out on the street.'' The toughest part, however, was trying to zero in on patterns - watching for the same faces, same suspicious activities, frequent traffic in and out of hotels - and reporting those patterns to police.

The final step, once streetwalkers and their johns are arrested, is to make sure their penalties are significant, Loyd said.

Del. Thelma Drake, a longtime advocate of legislation to crack down on prostitution, says her East Ocean View neighborhood is 99 percent better this year.

``My neighborhood has been so different,'' said Drake, whose district includes East Ocean View and the northeast corridor of Norfolk, as well as some of Virginia Beach near Chesapeake Beach. ``I think it's because of the increased police presence and awareness.''

Drake has said the street trade sometimes occurred outside her front door. Now, she said, the city has made combatting the crime a top priority.

``I am impressed with what the city and the police department have done,'' Drake said. ``Our goal now is to keep it from moving around the city.''

Some prostitutes and their business may have moved, she said. Or they may stagger the hours they roam the streets.

One leader in the fight is City Attorney Andre Foreman. The city's Prostitution Abatement Team - a group that includes police and city officials - several weeks ago identified the areas the city needs to focus on. A July memo said that Ocean View and Huntersville remained key areas. It noted an increase in drug and prostitution activity in the Barraud Park area.

In the General Assembly early this year, Drake pushed for tougher laws, including considering a customer's car a bawdy place, making any prostitution arrest after the first a Class 5 felony, and suspending johns' driver's licenses for six months.

The laws did not pass, but Drake said she is continuing to work with citizen committees and city officials to drive streetwalkers not just out of Ocean View, but out of Norfolk.

``The word is getting out,'' she said. ``Things are getting much, much better.'' ILLUSTRATION: RUSS LOYD, his wife, Amanda, and son, Marshall, have

lived near Ocean View for about eight years. He says efforts to

discourage prostitution are working.

Graphic

WARNING NOTIFIED HOTELS AND MOTELS MUST ADDRESS PROSTITUTION PROBLEM

WITHIN 45 DAYS OR FACE POSSIBLE BULLDOZING.

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