ANAHEIM : Prostitution Sweep Leads to 68 Arrests

Police said Tuesday they arrested 68 people late last week during an anti-prostitution sweep centered at Beach Boulevard and Ball Road, near Knott’s Berry Farm and several residential neighborhoods.

Sgt. Michael Patterson, head of the city’s vice detail, said police swept the area Thursday and Friday, after officers noticed a recent influx of prostitutes. Undercover officers posed as both prostitutes and potential customers to conduct the sweep, he said.

Twenty-six women were arrested on suspicion of prostitution and 32 men were arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution. Ten others were arrested on suspicion of various offenses, including drug sales.

The northwest corner of the intersection “has really been a mess for us,” Patterson said. “I feel sorry for the residents of the neighborhood. A lot of the prostitutes drive with a guy into the neighborhood, do their thing and then throw the used condoms on the street or in the yards.”

Patterson said the youngest women picked up on prostitution charges were 17. During a sweep of the same neighborhood last year, a 12-year-old girl was arrested.

“Arresting a 17-year-old for prostitution is not that uncommon,” he said. “There are a lot of 17-year-old runaways walking the streets.”