Police crack down on prostitution during All-Star weekend

ORLANDO, Fla.,None — Law enforcement officials are out in force to prevent crime for All-Star weekend. More than just fans flock to All-Star games. It's what goes on behind the scenes -- out on the street and in five-star hotel rooms that investigators will be hoping to crack down on this weekend.

The All-Star game brings in all kinds of players. A quick search of websites like Craigslist, City Vibe and Backpage, and you'll see hundreds of ads for prostitutes and escorts.

Many are saying they're only in town for the weekend, and with it comes their special All-Star game pricing.

"These are some of the side effects you have when a large event visits your community," Capt. Angelo Nieves said.

Law enforcement agencies would not go into specific detail on how they're cracking down this weekend, but in past stings, they've focused on websites by answering ads and posting their own fake ones.

That's how the Polk Sheriff's Office busted 31 people in a two-day sting last December.

But of course, there's always the old-school way to make a buck.

One woman, whom we're not identifying, said she had been prostituting on and off for eight years, and she said the notorious strip of Orange Blossom Trail just south of downtown Orlando will deliver a different kind of All-Star game this weekend.

"They are all very excited and looking forward, that it was going to be a very busy weekend, and they were going to make a lot of money. I've already seen three or four girls out here this morning just in this block walking," she said.

She said they're looking forward to making money this weekend "especially since there's going to be a lot of out-of-towners, people partying, and they're going to want girls to party with," she said.

Numbers are hard to come by, but in other cities that have had the All-Star game, it's believed 300 to 500 extra prostitutes were in town.

Of course those numbers could be bigger for Central Florida because of the Daytona 500.

WFTV