SAN ANTONIO -- Prostitution is a growing problem in San Antonio, and local law enforcement says new information shows that some of the night walkers are traveling great distances for clientele in the Alamo City.
According to statistics provided by the San Antonio Police Department’s vice unit, prostitution increased from just under 800 cases in 2010 to more than 1,000 cases in 2011.
Lt. Darrell Sanders, of the Bexar County vice unit, said they’re seeing a new trend of outsiders making their way to San Antonio to prostitute.
“What we’ve found is that they have professional type circuits," he said. "It’s like rockstars -- they work in one city for a couple of weeks then things get too hot and they’ll move. And there’s like a rotation system and they even advertise, 'Next month we’ll be in Dallas or even San Antonio.”
Just a couple of weeks ago the Bexar County vice unit set up a sting operation. In about six hours they arrested six women for prostitution. Two of the suspects weren’t even living in San Antonio.
“We did get one from Dallas and the other one was from out of state,” Sanders said.
Detectives said prostitutes who travel through San Antonio tend to aim for higher clientele and can be found on websites like Craigslist and Backpage. However, since they don't stick around, they can be harder to catch up with.
“They'll give us advance notice, or give their clients advance notice that they’ll be at a certain city at a certain time and they're only going to be there for certain day," Sanders said. "So get it while you can and then they move on."
Sanders said the sheriff's office is working in conjunction with other agencies to put an end to the circuit-type prostitution rings.
