CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – Pimps, Hookers, and Johns. Those are the targets of on-going enforcement efforts in the East Gateway and downtown areas of Clearwater.
Throw in some drug charges too, and you have a laundry list of folks arrested over a 2-day period, last Thursday and Friday.
Responding to complaints from residents and business in the downtown area and the east gateway neighborhood, Clearwater police conducted a “sting.”
They busted a total of 17 people over the course of the detail, with a dozen of those facing prostitution-related charges.
Police point out: along with prostitution comes drugs, drinking, and tossing of trash.
The goal of the operation is two-fold: rid the area of the pimps, hookers and drug dealers, and try to turn their lives around to become productive.
“Everybody that we arrest, we also offer the services. So, the goal is not just to put people in jail and lock them away. It’s really to hopefully get them off the streets and to rehabilitate them so a lot of these have underlying drug issues that we also try to address” said Lt. Natalia Illich-Hailey with the Clearwater Police Department.
One store owner in this area said he’s packing up and leaving, and the hookers and pimps are one reason.
Another owner is sticking it out, but, the things they see outside their store window, are not fit for a family audience.
