SALINAS, Calif.- Selling sex is big business in Salinas and we have new information on a crackdown. Police said they spend so much time on violent crime, they're only able to investigate prostitution every couple of months. It's an issue that comes full circle. Police said a lot of violent crime, stems from the prostitution problem in Salinas. We went behind the scenes with undercover officers to give you an exclusive look at a sting operation.
Police said the click clack of kitten heels on a Salinas sidewalk and eye contact with a driver may mean they're one step closer to identifying who's selling sex on our streets.
"She is continuing on Kern Street," said an undercover officer.
On Friday night, a team of about 15 officers gave Central Coast News the chance to see what it's like to patrol the hot spots in their first undercover prostitution bust since June.
"Sometimes when we plan something out, some violence starts happening around the city and we have to obviously put this type of thing down," the officer said.
The undercover officer we rode along with said it's problem that's getting worse.
"A lot of the ones that come from other places will actually travel all around the state and I think part of it is there will start to be recognized if they stay in one place too long," the officer said.
The officer said where prostitution happens other types of crime isn't far behind.
"Customers or potential customers will get robbed by prostitutes or prostitutes can get robbed or sexually assaulted by the customers," the officer said.
In fact Saturday morning police said a man who went to this Motel 6 on Kern Street with a prostitute, was attacked and robbed by another man.
"And a lot of that is unreported. But we do have a lot of documented cases where the robberies and the violence and sexual assaults have occurred," the officer said.
Police said the problem for nearby businesses and your neighborhoods, is that one sting doesn't keep them away for long. Police were able to bust eleven prostitutes Friday night-nine got a misdemeanor. 25-year-old Sonny Perez and 29-year-old Carlos Almanza, both from Salinas, were booked in jail. We called to see where they're at now and none of them are in jail. Once they get out, most times police said, they're in the wind.
"They have an awareness of law enforcement and an awareness of police tactics and they will change their methods to compensate for that," the officer said.
We drove by Kern Street on Monday night and it seemed pretty quiet. Police said when they do a sting operation the problem usually goes away for a little while, but eventually comes back.
