Ontario cops keep heat on prostitution

ONTARIO — Despite a flat number of prostitution-related arrests, police in Ontario are maintaining a speedy clip of crackdowns on the world’s oldest profession.

Ontario police have made several arrests in recent weeks, of both males soliciting illicit sexual acts and of the women providing those services for money.

On Thursday, police Sgt. Dave McBride said “various sting operations” have been taking place in the Ontario area, including ones at a major motel chain on North Vineyard Avenue and a popular truck stop near interstates 10 and 15, a crossroads for overnight truckers.

“We’ve gotten calls from security at the truck stop because that element is there,” McBride said.

McBride wouldn’t specifically describe the actual operations taken by police at the North Vineyard motel location.

“We don’t want to give out any of our methods,” he said of a task force that operates out of the department’s narcotics division.

In a six-hour span on Aug. 9, police arrested a dozen males in room 222 of the unnamed motel.

“People are on the road,” said McBride, “and they look for activities like this.”

Ontario and nearby Pomona are cities well-known for prostitution crimes that often involve drug-related offenses.

Ontario, more than any other city in the immediate area, has logged more arrests for prostitution based on a comparison of arrest logs from various agencies within a 25-mile radius of Ontario. That includes cities such as San Bernardino and Riverside.

“Our patrol officers are keeping their thumb on the problem,” McBride said. “Plus, we try to educate (innkeepers) on what to look for when something like this occurs.”

But police aren’t paying more attention to prostitution than other crimes in the city, McBride added.

“We’ve had a lot of burglaries lately that we’re paying attention to as well.”