It appears that a local fire chief allegedly got himself ensnared in an anti-prostitution sting on Thursday, becoming one of the latest to face charges related to seeking sex for money.
Highland Village Fire Chief Jason Collier was arrested during an operation conducted by the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, according to Fox 4 KDFW. He was charged with solicitation and resisting arrest.
A total of 14 men were arrested in the sting, which was executed in Lewisville.
Collier only just became fire chief of Highland Village in 2022, however, he has been an employee of the Highland Village Fire Department since at least 2008, per NBC 5 DFW.
“The operation was designed to suppress prostitution in our community by arresting offenders attempting purchase of sexual favors for money,” said the Denton County Sheriff’s Office in a press release posted on Facebook.
“Leads on other persons engaging in prostitution were also developed and being followed up on by Denton County Sheriff’s Office Human Trafficking Unit,” the agency added.
The operation was conducted in cooperation with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, the Arlington Police Department, the Lewisville Police Department, the Argyle Police Department, and the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.
According to The Cross Timbers Gazette, Collier was placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation into his arrest, per city personnel protocols.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the news outlet is shining a light on law enforcement’s efforts to combat prostitution and sex trafficking in the metroplex.
In Dallas, there have been 202 offenses committed related to prostitution in the city this year as of June 14, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard. There were also a further 39 documented cases of human trafficking logged during that same period.
Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6 leads in prostitution-related offenses, accounting for more than 160 recorded incidents.
Relatedly, the Dallas Police Department fields only around 3,000 officers, which falls considerably short of the 4,000 recommended by a prior City analysis. City leaders have allocated DPD a budget of just $654 million for this fiscal year, far less than the spending levels seen on public safety in other high-crime jurisdictions.