MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – For the second time this month, Myrtle Beach Police made a prostitution bust near Yaupon Drive. Officers arrested 11 people Wednesday night, which makes more than 20 arrests over the last week.
Diana Mikos said prostitution is a common problem in the neighborhood,”you walk down the street you see prostitutes every day, its kind of second nature at this point, you don’t even pay attention to it.”
Mikos said that the sight is so prevalent, she’s had to explain what’s happening to questioning children.
“You kind of sweep it under the rug, you know, for kids, but in the back of you’re mind you know you think this is really becoming a problem,” said Mikos.
But in an area often referred to as ‘Drug Alley,’ Mikos thinks there are bigger problems for police than prostitution.
“I think that our tax money could be better put to use, focusing on other area’s like violent criminals that are still at large in the area,” said Mikos.
“While we understand that some think that prostitution is a victim-less crime, it is not, it is connected to other criminal activity like drugs and armed robbery,” said Lt. Joey Crosby with Myrtle Beach Police.
Lt. Crosby said he’s seen potential johns, turned into victims, “in which they went into a motel room under the assumption of prostitution and then someone got robbed.”
Crosby said that busts can often also lead to bigger arrests, “as we do these operations, we gain intelligence on other criminal activity and then utilize that for other enforcement measures as well,” said Crosby.
And it’s part of a larger push to clean up the area, “that’s what we’re striving to do, to make a long term solution to these problems,” said Crosby.
Lt. Crosby said they’ve made a lot of arrests recently because officers have been vigilant and paying attention to what’s going on in the area.
