UNDERCOVER ON THE BOULEVARD FAUX HOOKER BAIT FOR UNWARY JOHNS.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

The men use their eyes to tell the blond and pretty Heather what they want.

There is no polite conversation, no ``Pretty Woman'' banter in the exchange. Seeking sex on the boulevard is seldom about service with a smile.

``You just know,'' Heather says of the would-be johns who pull over to make a deal. ``You look. You see. You smell it.''

The tough, sexually charged language of prostitution comes easy to her. Years of working the streets of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood have taught her to speak with her eyes to strangers looking for instant gratification, to always keep in motion as she walks between lampposts on busy thoroughfares.

But unlike the teens and other women who walk the streets, who sell their bodies for drug money or to avoid a pimp's beat-down, Heather hooks on the city's dime.

She's a 38-year-old police officer, one of about 20 women within the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley divisions who has worked the ``trick task force'' for years.

A mother of two young daughters, she's worked on more than 50 such stings, she said. She can't even count the number of men she caught trying to solicit her.

She does it, she says, to help protect hard-working families who are just trying to make ends meet, who instead are subjected to this seedy environment.

``She's smart, she thinks on her feet, and she's at least two steps ahead of the johns,'' said Detective Rick McElroy, who has worked vice for more than 20 years.

On a recent sting on Sherman Way in Canoga Park, Heather -- who goes by her street name to protect her identity -- took part in an operation in which 11 men were arrested.

The trick task force is a choice assignment for some officers in the vice unit, she says. Those who work it say it's exciting. The take-downs happen fast. Some women officers like the brief attention from men.

But the work can be dangerous.

Undercover officers known as operatives stay tight-lipped about a sting's details. Some johns carry weapons. Some are so anxious, so angry, they're ready to throw punches if they don't get what they want.

``Two task forces ago, one guy that stopped for me happened to have a handgun in his waistband,'' Heather says. ``He had three loaded guns in his car, two swords and dope, and he was a fugitive from Arizona wanted for rape. Imagine what could have happened.''

But there isn't a particular type of man -- a certain race or religion or age -- who wants a prostitute, Heather says. She's seen men pull up with a child safety seat strapped into the back seat of their car.

She's heard of guys who drop their wives off at the nearest Wal-Mart, hoping for a quick romp before having to pick them up and head home.

``There are all kinds of stories,'' she says of the men she's met, even of the real prostitutes she has come to know. ``There are funny stories, sad stories, scary stories.''

And when they're caught, there are all kinds of excuses, too.

``They say, `I just wanted to talk,' or `I wasn't going to do anything,' or `I didn't mean it.'''

Female police officers have been used as undercover prostitutes ``ever since women have been allowed on the force,'' said Penny Harrington, a founder of the National Association of Women in Law Enforcement.

Harrington herself worked vice after she became a cop in 1964, when female officers were limited to ``women's divisions,'' like the kind that handled juvenile cases. In 1985, she became the chief of the Portland (Ore.) Police Department.

``They tucked me into it once in a while,'' she said of the trick task forces. ``A lot of women officers don't like to do that job.

``It is dangerous because prostitution is often associated with heavy drug areas, with men who like to abuse women.''

Commonly fueled by the need for drug money, prostitution can be part of a cycle that includes gang activity.

``I watch traffic a lot,'' Heather says of her tactic to keep safe. ``I've been very fortunate. Anything can happen. I don't know anyone who isn't frightened, but I'm always focused.''

``We've never lost an undercover prostitute,'' McElroy said. ``That's a testament to the way we conduct the operations.''

In the Valley, the prostitution scene is dominated by drug-addicted women -- who Heather bluntly calls ``crack whores'' -- who walk Sepulveda Boulevard. These women don't bother to dress up. They don't sell illusions like the hookers in Hollywood.

When she works the Valley, Heather gets by in jeans and a sweat shirt.

``Even a blind squirrel can get a nut,'' Heather says, because men drive specifically down Sepulveda to pay for sex.

While some debate whether prostitution is a victimless crime, Heather and residents in high-impact areas argue it's the residents who are often affected. Used syringes and condoms litter side streets and curbs where children play. Women of all ages are solicited as they make their way down some Valley streets or wait for buses.

``If you want to go take your dog for a walk, by the time you walk from Sepulveda to Valerio, you might get five hits, or guys stopping to ask, `How much?''' said Joseph Cordaro, president of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council.

``When you have one type of illicit activity, you've got the drug use and you've got contraband being left behind. It's all part of that same element.''

Street prostitution arrests remain flat in the Valley, but are below 1990s levels. There were 433 prostitution-related arrests citywide through May, about the same level as last year.

But it does recur in cycles, usually during the summer, when ``circuit girls'' make their way to Los Angeles from Fresno, Las Vegas or Hawaii, police said.

Sepulveda remains one of L.A.'s top three destinations, along with Hollywood Boulevard and Figueroa Street, McElroy said.

``It's an institution of prostitution,'' he said of Sepulveda. ``We can't eliminate it, but we can control it. The best we can do is try to improve the quality of life.''

The LAPD plans to operate stings once a month in the Valley through October, cracking down on johns by taking away their cars, then making them buy them back.

Since the city attorney initiated the vehicle seizure program in 2003, more than 500 cars have been impounded. The city has made $325,000 in buybacks, though the City Attorney's Office emphasizes that the program is meant to deter solicitation, not earn money.

Even with the auto-seizure program, even as solicitations occur on the Internet or over cell phones, Heather says there are still men who would rather pick up women on the street.

Only twice has she worked a task force when she was unsuccessful. Some officers joke about those moments, of the times when a john offers only $15, Heather says.

``Sometimes you feel a little self-conscious walking back and forth,'' she says. ``It's a tad bit hard on the ego.''

And her husband won't watch her work on a task force, even though she's invited him.

``He says, `No, I don't want to know','' she says.

Heather became a police officer 11 years ago. She grew up in the Valley and had worked as a waitress for eight years. When she attended a seminar and listened to a female LAPD officer talk about the job, she just about signed up on the spot.

She liked the idea of working patrol, of wearing the badge and the uniform, she says. But an opportunity to work the gang detail lured her into vice work.

She first worked the streets of Hollywood, learning lessons along the way that have since left her as hardened as the pavement she walks.

``When I first started it, I dealt with a lot of young girls,'' Heather said. ``I would try to talk to them, to help them. But it became really clear that they were there because they wanted the money.''

She recalls seeing a young prostitute walk the boulevard holding the hand of her 5-year-old son. Strung out on drugs and angry, the woman urinated on the street, then berated the boy for watching.

``She was saying horrible things to him,'' she says. ``I was overcome with sadness.''

Many of the real prostitutes she knows were sexually abused as children, and she understands that not all of them do what they do by choice.

But there is a level of frustration that comes with her job -- a public that doesn't always understand why resources are spent on fighting prostitution, the people on the street she comes in contact with.

``You can't help but be jaded,'' she says. ``It's a survival mechanism. I believe a lot of people that we come in contact with are liars, people who live lies. It's left me disappointed in society.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Heather, an undercover Los Angeles police officer, portrays a prostitute strolling on Sepulveda Boulevard to bait johns.

(2) Heather, a Los Angeles Police Department vice officer, walks Sepulveda Boulevard, playing the part of a prostitute to bait johns in stings aimed to curb prostitution.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer