CLAMPDOWN ON CRIMINAL ACTS SOUGHT -- PROSTITUTES, DRUG DEALERS TORMENT
NEIGHBORHOOD

Crime: Action Demanded Of City

Prostitutes hustling for clients along S Robinson Avenue are making life in
the area unbearable, residents said Thursday.
More than 100 people living near the S Robinson corridor, between SW 29 and
SW 44, complained about prostitutes and drug dealers during an "emergency
meeting" with city officials Thursday night at the Capitol Hill Lions Center.

"So many people know that if you want to buy sex and drugs, go to
South Robinson, because it's one-stop shopping," said Sue Ducharme,
one of the meeting's organizers.

The residents -- some outraged, some tearful, some weary -- criticized
the lack of help coming from police, local officials and the courts.

They lined up to recite a list of upsetting incidents:

A 15-year-old daughter walking to a neighborhood store is repeatedly
propositioned by "johns," men wanting to buy sex. "Girls who aren't
prostitutes can't walk around freely," her father said.

Pimps snatch another family's 18-year-old daughter off the street and
force her to work as a prostitute. "Why don't you go after the people
who are making the luxury money and living in the luxury homes -- the
pimps?" the teen's mother asked.

Drug syringes littering local parks pose a hazard to children playing
there.

Children can see sex acts taking place in broad daylight on
residential streets.

Residents trying to shoo prostitutes or pimps away from their homes
and yards are threatened, sometimes with guns.

Tenants who file complaints with the police have their cars
smashed.

A prostitute's speeding client hits a youngster riding his bike in
front of his home. "I've written down car tag numbers. Who do I give
them to?" asked his mother, in tears.

"I'm with you. I'm wanting to do something," Oklahoma County District
Attorney Wes Lane promised the residents.

Lane said he would form an anti-prostitution task force to help solve
the problem.

One difficulty in enforcement is that in Oklahoma, prostitution is a
misdemeanor crime, which a police officer must witness before an
arrest can take place, said Maj. Chuck Allen with the Oklahoma City
Police Department.

The area certainly keeps police hopping. Last year, officers recorded
more than 1,000 criminal incidents in the neighborhood, Oklahoma City
police records show.

State Sen. Keith Leftwich and state Rep. Al Lindley, both D-Oklahoma
City, said they may draft legislation to increase state fines for
prostitution.

"I'm tired of these johns ... preying on Capitol Hill," Leftwich
said.

Oklahoma City council members Ann Simank and Brent Rinehart promised
to bring the problem to the attention of the city council to try to
find remedies.

The two said they will also urge municipal court officials not to
release prostitutes on their own recognizance, but instead levy
maximum fines and, when possible, hand out jail time.

"We're going to work at attacking this problem from every angle,"
Rinehart added.

DuCharme, executive director of the South Oklahoma City Council of
Neighborhoods, said she was pleased at the large turnout of residents.

The residents scheduled another meeting for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at the
Lions Center.

"I think we got a great response last night, and all the officials
seem to want to make changes," DuCharme said Friday.

But Thursday night wasn't the first time city officials have promised
to help, she said.

In past clampdowns, prostitutes were harassed for a few weeks, then
things returned to business as usual, she said.

DuCharme said it will take concerted efforts to bring long-term
change to the area.

"The prostitutes and pimps are really entrenched there," DuCharme
said. "It's their turf, and they won't want to give that up."