CHEEKTOWAGA – The Cheektowaga Police participated in a nationwide effort to crackdown on prostitution and child trafficking which netted a handful of arrests.
The Cheektowaga Police performed their prostitution sting at a hotel near the airport Thursday evening as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Operation Cross Country.
Five women ranging in age from their late teens to their late 20s were arrested according to Assistant Chief of Police Jim Speyer. Their identities are being withheld due to the ongoing investigation.
Officers search internet websites where the women advertise their services. Posing as a Johns they make contact and set up a rendezvous at the hotel.
“It is aimed at taking young girls off the street who are possibly involved in human trafficking as well as enforcing prostitution laws,” said Asst. Chief Speyer.
The nationwide program tries to locate and assist juveniles who are being used as prostitutes. Runaway juveniles are particularly vulnerable to being led into prostitution because they’ve run away from possibly a bad family situation and then get pulled into drugs or a gang lifestyle that leads into prostitution.
Informational gathered by the Cheektowaga Police will be passed onto the FBI.
“The FBI will look through that information, look at each one, and deem if there’s necessary follow up for human trafficking,” added Asst. Chief Speyer.
The Cheektowaga Police VICE squad conducts a number of sting operations throughout the year. The arrests made Thursday are on average for the number of arrests made by the police at each of their sting operations.
Last year’s Operation Cross Country recovered 82 sexually exploited juveniles and the arrests of 239 pimps and other individuals across the nation.