AZUSA — Acting on complaints from residents, police carried out compliance checks at six Azusa massage parlors Wednesday, issuing several citations but making no arrests, officials said.
Police joined with officials from Azusa code enforcement, the California Employment Development Department, the California Department of Industrial Relations, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau’s licensing unit during the operation, Azusa police Lt. Mike Bertelsen said in a written statement.
“Azusa PD has received complaints that some massage parlors within the city may be offering sexual services to customers in addition to massages,” Bertelsen said. “After learning of the complaints, Azusa PD detectives solicited the help of outside agencies with specific expertise in massage parlor operations to develop and execute this administrative compliance detail.”
In addition to verifying that all local, county and state laws and regulations were being followed, police said officials were also seeking to determine whether any victims of human trafficking were associated with any of the massage parlors.
“No victims of human trafficking were located, however numerous citations were issued for violations of various Azusa municipal codes, along with workers compensation insurance or minimum wage violations, Bertelsen said. “Some of the businesses involved face fines of several thousand dollars each. These investigations are ongoing, so none of the businesses are being identified.”
Bertelsen said similar “administrative inspections” are likely to be held again in the future.