LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hey all you adult film stars, the porn police could soon be on the beat.
After the Los Angeles City Council adopted an ordinance earlier this year, it appointed a committee to study how such a law might be enforced. After months of committee meetings, the city's administrative officer issued a 47-page report Wednesday offering some proposals. Among them: contracting with a licensed medical professional to conduct periodic inspections of film productions to ensure condoms are being used.
The law was adopted in January after the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had lobbied for years for safer sex practices on adult film sets, gathered enough petition signatures to put the issue before the city's voters.
The group has since gone on to place a similar measure, covering all of Los Angeles County, on the November ballot. If adopted by voters, it would supersede the city regulations and place enforcement on the county's Public Health Department.
Along with considering hiring a prophylactic policeman, the city's administrative officer also suggested officials implement a fee to pay for inspections. An amount wasn't suggested, but the report estimated it could range anywhere from $3,472 to $2,204, depending upon how many film permits for adult movies are issued.
The report also said a study by the Los Angeles Fire Department indicates that more than 100 condom cops might be needed to adequately enforce the law, at a cost of $1.7 million or more a year.
Last year, the city issued 22,684 permits for filming in Los Angeles, only 480 of which were for porn flicks, officials said. The rest were mainly for mainstream movies and television shows.
Industry officials have said many smaller companies don't bother to get permits, while the larger ones film many of their movies on closed studio sets, which are exempted from the new law.
"I just find that the whole issue is ridiculous and unnecessary," said Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, which represents the adult film industry. "When you look at what it will cost the city of LA, with the extreme budget problems the city is already having, to create a bureaucracy, to have inspectors see if adult film performers are wearing condoms seems absurd."
She added there has been only one confirmed case of HIV connected to the adult film industry since 2004.
Officials with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation did not respond to messages for comment Thursday. However, they have said in the past that there have been nine reported cases of HIV involving porn actors since 2004, which shows the potential for actors to become infected in their private lives and then transmit the virus through their work.
