DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Friday night, a crackdown was done by Dallas police in neighborhood overrun by prostitution, and only CBS 11 was allowed to document the enforcement operation.
Dallas police have been conducting enforcement operations several times this year.
CBS 11 got to see first hand Friday night how much the sex trade has returned since the pandemic.
George Cossio, who works at a nearby auto repair shop, just wants a safe and comfortable repair shop for customers to bring their cars and trucks.
“They come around here and sometimes people honk at them and it’s not good for business,” Cossio said.
He’s talking about the prostitutes that have become a constant sight across the street from his business on Walnut Hill Lane in Northwest Dallas.
“It happens all the time, they are here all day every day,” Cossio said. “It’s bad for business.”
Dallas police vice and patrol officers conducted an operation Friday night to address a decades old problem in the area around Harry Hines Boulevard.
Officers arrested suspected prostitutes outside motels and even a suspected pimp.
“It’s just been an issue in this area for many years. I think we have to change the culture,” said Dallas Police Department Deputy Chief Thomas Castro.
It’s a crime that police say they see more of during special events, like Texas-OU weekend.
The vice unit believes it can finally clean up the neighborhood with operations like this one, that those who live and work in the area want.
“Since we’ve been doing several operations this year, we see some improvement,” said Castro. “Business owners that we are in contact with on a regular basis are thanking us, saying that it’s getting better.”
Everyone arrested will be offered a diversion program that comes with resources to get away from sex trafficking and keep it off their criminal record.
