People on probation because of drug convictions will be banned from Los Angeles' "skid row" area under a new policy unveiled by the city's district attorney, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 27.

D.A. Steve Cooley said the ban would prevent known drug offenders from reestablishing their trade in an area that is home to the city's biggest illicit-drug market. "At some point, the situation becomes so outrageous, so intractable you have to throw lots of resources at it," said Cooley. "Drug buyers and sellers caught there will know once they get caught again, they'll go to prison or jail."

The ban applies to 4th, 5th and 6th streets between Broadway and Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

City officials have long promised to clean up the area, but local merchants say that drug dealing has gotten worse. The drug-offender ban will apply in cases where parolees were originally arrested in the skid-row area.

The ban is "an excellent way to whittle down the number of criminals in the area and make it easy to identify the people on the streets who really want and need help," said LAPD Deputy Chief Charles L. Beck.

Cooley said if the policy works in skid row it could be applied to other areas of the city.

Drug offenders working or attending addiction treatment in the downtown area would be exempt from the ban.

Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the ban was "another stopgap measure that doesn't address the real issues."