ONTARIO LAW WOULD EXPAND SEIZURE OF CARS DURING ARRESTS

Proponents Of Ordinance Targeting Customers Of Dealers, Prostitutes Say
Threat Of Losing A Vehicle Could Be A Strong Deterrent.

ONTARIO -- Buy drugs or solicit a prostitute and you could lose your car.

That is the gist of a proposed law to be debated tonight by the City Council.

The proposed ordinance, which would give police the authority to seize cars
during prostitution and drug-related arrests, is intended to provide a
deterrent to the crimes, said Richard Maxwell, chief deputy district
attorney for San Bernardino County. "I certainly think it would help,"
Maxwell said. "In California your car is your life. When a person loses
their car, that is a much more severe penalty than the law provides for it."

Ontario has seized the vehicles of drug dealers in the past under state
forfeiture laws. The new law would target customers, said Sgt. John Evans,
who heads the city's community policing program.

Evans said the seizures can affect prostitution as well.

"It is a huge expense for them," Evans said. "How do you explain your car
being taken? The effects are pretty drastic."

Those arrested for soliciting prostitutes face a maximum six-month county
jail sentence and a fine if convicted.

The ordinance is modeled after an Oakland law that has withstood a
challenge in the state courts, Ontario Police Sgt. Steve Duke said.

However, last year Congress passed a measure intended to scale back what
many considered to abuses of the federal forfeiture laws in drug cases.
Previously, assets could be taken even in cases where no arrests were made
or convictions obtained, and it fell to the owners to prove that the
property had been legally obtained. The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act
of 2000 shifted the burden of proof back to the government to show that the
assets were obtained through drug sales.

The city's ordinance includes safeguards to protect innocent people.

Evans said legal seizures should reduce prostitution and drug sales as they
have in other cities.

People might think prostitution is a victimless crime but it attracts drugs
and other crimes to an area, Evans said.

Mission and Holt boulevards are the corridors where most prostitutes are
solicited because of the motels there, Evans said. The city conducts two
stings a year and arrests about 25 men during each for soliciting prostitutes.

"I think this will really help clean up an area," Evans said.

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30 at City Hall, 303 East B St.