Police target lewd activity after a child walked into a restroom and found a man engaged in a sexual act.
Undercover detectives recently made 15 arrests during a series of operations to combat prostitution at massage parlors and a park in Inglewood, California.
Eleven of the arrests occurred at Edward Vincent Park at Florence and Centinela avenues, which has become a haven for men interested in homosexual activity in public venues.
Ironically, Vincent Park is less than two miles from Florence and Normandie Avenue, a flash point of violence and civil unrest just hours after the 1992 Rodney King verdicts were announced.
As soon as a predominantly White jury found four White officers not guilty for beating the brother who coined the phrase, "Can't we all just get along", bedlam ensued throughout the city. It was here, however, where truck driver Reginald Denny -- simply waiting at a traffic light -- was pulled out of his rig and beaten unconscious by four Black thugs.
The reason? He was White.CAN A WHITE BOY BE "ON THE DL?"
Fast forward fifteen years and you now have this spot where gay, straight, and bi-sexual men of color "hook up" at all hours of the night. "It has become a popular location for people to go, but we are going to take the park back," Inglewood police Sgt. Robert Pessis said. "These are just people loitering in the park for the purposes of lewd conduct,"
Police focused on the restrooms and other outdoor areas. "It appears it had been getting worse," Pessis said. "We wanted to put our foot down and curb this problem." Most of the people arrested were not Inglewood residents, he said.
In my experience as a judge who handled those cases as far back as 1999, individuals arrested and charged included doctors, county workers, religious leaders, business professionals, even grass root Afro-centric neighborhood activists.
Most were African-American men, some Latino, all insisting that they were just "hanging out."
While it's clear that the darkly lit, tree-filled park bordering a busy thoroughfare, a Catholic church, middle class homes, and the city's civic center is on the radar for brothers interested in this type of activity, the real concern is the HIV/Aids-epidemic running rampant in Black America as well as the Diaspora.
Family, we must stop blaming everyone else for our issues. It's time to get real!
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