Northwest Dallas was the top destination in the city to buy and sell sex last month, especially in City Councilman Omar Narvaez’s District 6.
According to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard, every single reported criminal offense related to prostitution that occurred in December 2022 took place in District 6, save for two in City Councilman Paul Ridley’s District 14. A total of 29 such offenses were reported last month.
The Dallas Express’ most recent review of the December data follows two high-profile prostitution sting operations that nabbed a total of 69 violators in North Texas: 23 from a bust led by the Dallas Police Department (DPD) in November and another 46 in a joint operation spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this month.
The offenses tallied by the DPD and logged with the City of Dallas include “Prostitution,” “Human Trafficking – Commercial Sex Acts,” “Assisting or Promoting Prostitution,” and “Purchasing Prostitution.”
These crimes skyrocketed in District 6 last month by more than 120% compared to December 2021.
December 2022 also saw a marked increase from one month earlier, with reported prostitution-related offenses spiking roughly 32%.
The Dallas Express reached out to the DPD to ask what could account for the overwhelming number of reported offenses in Narvaez’s district.
“The reason for that is likely the concentration of sexually oriented businesses,” said a DPD spokesperson.
Sure enough, a quick Google Maps search shows that the vast majority of Dallas strip clubs — more than a dozen — are located around the Interstate 35 corridor between TX-348 Spur and Interstate 635.
A look back at data for all of 2022 shows that 314 prostitution-related offenses were reported — 213 of which occurred in District 6 — with Cara Mendelsohn’s District 12 in a distant second with 27 offenses for the year.
The Dallas Express reached out to Councilman Narvaez and asked him if he has a plan for the city council to get prostitution and sex trafficking in Dallas under control, considering most of the offenses seem to be taking place in his district. No response was received by press time.
The City has clocked 24 prostitution-related offenses in 2023 year-to-date, compared to four during the same period last year. Twenty-three of this year’s crimes occurred in Narvaez’s district.