City Attorney Carmen Trutanich announced at a Thursday news conference that he's asking for a first-in-the-nation injunction to stop scalpers around sports and entertainment venues in Los Angeles.
"This injunction asks the court to impose stay away orders for 17 named defendants from the Staples Center, L.A. Live, Dodger Stadium, the Galen Center and here at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum," Trutanich said.
Trutanich stood in front of maps of places like the Coliseum that would be covered by the injunction. It would be illegal for the so-called "habitual ticket-scalpers" to be in those areas or for the scalpers to associate with each other.
The Los Angeles Police Department has conducted up to 150 task force operations at Staples Center and L.A. Live to arrest scalpers. The same deployments happen for other events, such as those at the Coliseum.
"This gives us a strategy that will better deal with the problem, make it more effective, and will in turn allow me to deploy my resources where they really need it in the communities in order to make them safe," said Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Pat Gannon.
Gannon says he will deploy as many as 150 officers to police large events like USC games at the Coliseum. USC football starts there in three weeks.
The action filed by the city attorney alleges that illegal ticket-sellers engage in unfair business practices and fail to pay taxes on profits.
The new ordinance would take effect in a few months. Ticket-scalpers, if caught, could face jail time and fines.
