`JOHNS' PROPOSAL ASSAILED : WILLIAMS OPPOSES PUBLICIZING SUSPECTS.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Citing cost and legal liability issues, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams is opposing a plan approved by the City Council that would broadcast the names and photographs of people arrested for soliciting prostitutes in Los Angeles.

The City Council voted last December to direct the LAPD to begin providing the names and photographs of people arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitutes so the information could be broadcast over a local cable television channel and supplied to the news media for publication.

City Councilman Hal Bernson proposed the measure out of frustration over the continuing problem of prostitution along Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley.

In a report released Monday, Williams asked the Police Commission to join him in opposing the plan initiated by Bernson as a way of discouraging people from using prostitutes.

Williams stated his position was affected by the cost of photographing and double-checking the identity of suspects - which he said could reach $387,500 annually - as well as the legal liability to the city if the suspects are later found not guilty of the charges.

``The department supports community efforts to reduce criminal conduct and improve quality-of-life issues, such as the elimination of prostitution activity,'' Williams wrote. ``However, the fiscal impact and legal concerns associated with the program, the absence of enthusiastic approval of similar programs adopted by other agencies and the absence of an automated infrastructure to maintain the program preclude implementation at this time.''

Bernson and his aides questioned the cost estimates put forward by the chief and the other reasons given for not supporting the program.

``It's unfortunate (they are) taking the attitude that they're not serious about doing something about johns soliciting on the streets of Los Angeles,'' Bernson said.

The councilman charged that the department is not adequately enforcing laws against solicitation.

``It's almost tantamount to legalization,'' he said.

The chief's report said the department has arrested johns, most successfully with sting operations with female plain-clothes officers.

``The department makes every attempt to enforce the section equally, responding on the basis of community complaints - not the type or nature of the violation,'' the report states.

The chief's report said the costs of releasing the identity of johns for broadcast would mostly come from providing the staff to photograph each suspect arrested and check the suspect against a Municipal Court index to make sure charges have been filed.

In addition, Williams notes the concerns of the City Attorney's Office about the city facing liability for publishing the identities of people arrested but not convicted of soliciting prostitutes.

Two men who sued the city in 1984 after their names and addresses were released won a court injunction prohibiting the city from releasing the addresses and phone numbers of arrestees on grounds that it would be an invasion of privacy.