It’s around noon on Harry Hines Boulevard in northwest Dallas.
A young woman in a short dress and sandals paces back and forth on a busy corner of the 2600 block of Southwell Road, making a phone call.
Another woman walks up to Harry Hines wearing a G-string, and when she spots the NBC 5 camera, she turns around.
Shopkeepers say it’s a blatant and blatant act, even on tough Harry Hines Boulevard, which has a long history of prostitution.
One store owner told NBC 5 that Friday morning was especially busy.
The “Johns” get paid and go around looking for buddies.
“I’d say there are between 30 and 50 girls in the 635 and Northwest Highway area at any one time,” said Drew McGill, a broker who represents $38 million in real estate in northwest Dallas. “Ten years ago, a lot of it was in the Design District.”
The growth of the Design District has only brought more prostitution to Northwest Dallas, he said.
“Everything has been compressed by 35 percent and here we are,” he said. “Unfortunately, this has become very problematic and it’s no longer happening in the middle of the night, it’s happening in the daytime. And you’ve got homelessness that is very violent on top of that. Petty crime is exploding.”
McGill and dozens of other business owners who he said are fed up met privately with Dallas police Thursday afternoon to discuss their ongoing concerns.
The meeting took place several weeks after a shooting was reported near Parker University on Walnut Hill Lane.
Organizers did not allow media to attend.
McGill said it was the first meeting of its kind in several years and he welcomed it, but said many people left feeling like their opinions had not been heard.
“I think [police] “They just wanted to announce that crime was down 14 percent,” he said. “Everybody was in a frenzy. You could feel the energy. It’s just not accurate.”
Luis Nuno, who owns a business in the area, attended the meeting and said many people were “angry.”
“It’s clear that there are insufficient resources given to the police department by our city’s elected officials,” Nuno said.
They say the issue isn’t that police aren’t doing their jobs, but that more resources are needed.
“They said, ‘We can’t put more resources here because we don’t have enough officers to handle this situation,'” Nuno said.
McGill said DPD should take a different approach in determining what resources are needed in areas that are primarily industrial and home to a concentration of warehouses.
According to DPD’s online crime map, there have been 93 arrests for soliciting prostitution so far this year, with the majority of the arrests occurring in the Northwest District.
In a statement provided to NBC 5, DPD spokesperson Christine Roman said:
“Preventing violent crime is a priority for our Police Department, but community concerns about prostitution are equally important. Since March, the Police Department has conducted four operations targeting those soliciting prostitution in the Northwest Neighborhood. The operations, which led to over 80 arrests, were in response to concerns raised by business owners and community members in areas most affected by prostitution. While the four operations took place in the Northwest Neighborhood, efforts will continue citywide.”
DPD will continue to listen to residents’ concerns and work to resolve this issue.
