Second in a series
Re “Declaring a War on Women – and Their Manipulating Pimps”
[img]1797|exact|Mr. Galvan||no_popup[/img]Dateline Compton – Unfortunately for this community, no blueprint, textbook or handy-dandy internet solution is available to demonstrate how to rescue or rid a bedeviled neighborhood of teenage prostitutes who haunt low-grade motels on the east side of Long Beach Boulevard.
There is no question in the minds of city leaders that Compton has been targeted by pimps as a vulnerable mark. Along Long Beach Boulevard, Compton lies between Lynwood to the north and Long Beach to the south, and their portions of the thoroughfare are clean.
Isaac Galvan, a mere 26 years old – and he does not look an hour older – not only is Compton’s newest City Council member as of July 1, but the first Latino in a community that has changed from majority black to majority Latin.
It almost seemed unfair to saddle the young man with a massive community issue that no predecessor has come close to resolving.
Leadership is gazing toward the County Sheriff’s Dept., in charge of law enforcement in the city.
“But,” says Mr. Galvan, “the Sheriff’s Dept. is underpaid, and they are understaffed in the city of Compton. What we have to do as City Council members is start from the top. We have to stop the unnecessary spending that is taking place at City Hall.
“I am very happy to work with Sheriff Lee Baca and Capt. McRay from the Compton Sheriff’s Dept.
“The homicide rate in Compton is up. We have had eight more than last year at this time. And so the Sheriff’s Dept. started borrowing people from other areas.
“They assigned a special deputy to work strictly on the prostitution problem,” Mr. Galvan said. “The trouble is when they arrest prostitutes, they are out of jail in three to five hours.
“The only way to make an impact with this situation is to arrest the pimps. The pimps are the ones who will do the real time, seven to 10 years.
“We are making progress,” the Councilman said. “In the two months that the special deputy has been on this case, he has arrested three pimps. That is good. They’re going to do a lot of time in jail.”
Then Mr. Galvin turned to what he said is the most determinative –but hardly the fastest to solve – issue. “Somehow,” he said, “we have to find the money to fund this campaign.”
At this moment, no one in Compton knows how that will come about.
(To be continued)
