Four arrested in prostitution sting north of downtown Wichita

Four women were arrested during a prostitution sting north of downtown Tuesday, police said.

Patrol North conducted the sting over a six-hour period Tuesday afternoon and evening in the area of 11th and Topeka, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said. Arrests were made on West 10th and East 11th, police records show.

“This was due to several complaints from neighbors in the area,” Espinoza said.

The women — ranging in age from 30 to 55 — were arrested on suspicion of offenses that included prostitution and solicitation for immoral purposes.

“That area’s been targeted before,” Espinoza said of the sector that includes streets along or near North Broadway. “We have people that continuously go there. Unfortunately, over the years, this is an area of town that johns go to to find prostitutes.”

The prostitution activity seems to pick up in warmer weather, he said, which in turn increases complaints.

“We have an obligation to the community to make Wichita a safe place and to make sure this type of activity doesn’t occur,” Espinoza said.

Police statistics indicate a decline in prostitution-related arrests in the Broadway corridor stretching from Pawnee in the south to 14th Street in the north. That sector, which stretches three blocks east and west of Broadway, saw 126 arrests in 2013, 83 last year and 21 so far in 2015.

The bulk of the arrests occurred on the northern and southern ends of the corridor, according to police department data.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Four arrested in prostitution sting north of downtown Wichita."