A proposed network of cameras along Western Avenue could be up and running by July, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, bringing surveillance to a Koreatown corridor that law enforcement says has become a major hub for sex work and human trafficking.
The 18 cameras, planned for Western Avenue between Olympic and Santa Monica boulevards, will include live-feed monitoring and license plate recognition technology, according to Capt. Ryan Lee of LAPD’s Olympic Division.
“I think they’ll be a great asset for us in being able to identify people who are predatory on some of the women that are there and allow us to identify some of the human traffickers,” Lee said.
But the Western Avenue cameras are not being treated as a standalone effort. At a recent Koreatown town hall, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman described them as part of a wider law enforcement strategy targeting trafficking corridors, including in South LA, Pomona, Compton and Long Beach.
“We’re going to go after all these corridors of human trafficking to make sure that the sex buyers and the predators, pimps and traffickers understand that they can’t just go from Western to Sepulveda to Figueroa and think that they’re going to find some place where the law enforcement’s not going to be there, some place where the DA’s office is not going to prosecute,” Hochman said.
Cameras are just “one of the techniques” law enforcement will use on Western and “all these different corridors,” Hochman added, raising questions about the total scope of the crackdown. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The LAPD first shared details about the proposal earlier this year and the department is optimistic that the contractor will have the system operational by July.
Police say the cameras are part of a broader task force involving LAPD, the district attorney’s office, the city attorney’s office and the council districts that oversee the corridor.
Concerns over surveillance
But critics say the city is using trafficking as a justification to expand surveillance before major international events.
Jayme Kusyk, Koreatown resident and member of the abolitionist group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said officials have pointed to enforcement along Figueroa as a model for Western, even while acknowledging that sex workers may have moved from one corridor to another.
“All these officials are pointing to the Figueroa human trafficking initiative as being successful operations that they’ve run, and they’re trying to implement the same thing on Western,” Kusyk said. “Is that not proof that this isn’t working? It’s just criminalizing sex work.”
She added more surveillance could also make conditions less safe for sex workers if clients become fearful or erratic when they know they are being watched.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents the district that includes part of the corridor, said his office supports using tools to gather evidence against traffickers but also wants safeguards around surveillance.
He added that efforts by the Western Corridor cross-agency task force have helped more than a “dozen young women being trafficked or abused.”
“When it comes to cameras, our office wants to ensure we’re using every available tool to gather evidence and hold traffickers accountable,” he said in a statement provided to The LA Local. “At the same time, we have a responsibility to protect our communities from technologies that are reportedly being misused for surveillance or immigration enforcement. We can and must pursue public safety without compromising the rights and trust of immigrant communities.”
Some advocates are also wary of giving federal law enforcement agencies access to surveillance data at a time of increased immigration enforcement.
Grace Zhang of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition said ALPR technology has historically been used to police sex work — not just human trafficking — pointing to “Dear John” letter campaigns targeting suspected sex buyers.
“Dear John” letters are warning notices police send to registered owners of vehicles seen in areas known for sex work activity, often as a way to discourage them from returning.
The LAPD is not fit to respond to vulnerable people in crisis, she added, pointing to the 2025 police shooting of Linda Becerra Moran, a transgender woman from Ecuador who had reported being trafficked and held against her will in a Pacoima motel room. Police said an officer shot her after Moran moved toward them with a knife. Moran later died from her injuries, and the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners ultimately ruled the shooting “out of policy.”
The department has focused heavily on identifying trafficking victims, particularly minors, according to Capt. Rachel Rodriguez of the Olympic Division.
“Year to date, we’ve rescued seven young women under the age of 18 and have given them a new opportunity of life outside of being trafficked,” Rodriguez said at a press conference last Tuesday at the station.
Officials also say the timing matters because LA is preparing to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. Officials expect both events to bring millions of visitors from around the world to the region.
“We know that we’re going to have lots of visitors coming in for the World Cup and from all over the country and oftentimes that can be a lucrative time for that,” Lee said. “So we are taking some measures in place by the department to ensure that we still maintain a safe community for everybody.”
Concerns over street-based sex work near homes boiled over at a packed and heated town hall in Koreatown earlier this year. Nick Barnes Batista, a spokesperson for Council District 13, said the office is continuing to hold smaller, more informal conversations with residents and organizations along the corridor, with a larger town hall tentatively planned for this summer.
