Forest Park is a city located in Clayton County, Georgia. Forest Park has approximately 20,000 residents and sits nine miles south of Atlanta. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been known to occur in the area and surrounding counties.

Consumer-level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. For example, in April 2013, Clayton County’s Police and Sheriff Departments sent teams of undercover officers to areas in Forest Park along Old National Highway. Four female police decoys posed as prostituted women while several other officers watched from a short distance away. As a result, ten sex buyers were arrested. One suspect was arrested on a bicycle, which was impounded along with several cars. Seeing a TV news camera, one suspect said, “Ya’ll gonna put me on TV? Lord, have mercy.”

Soliciting is a misdemeanor in Georgia, punishable by no more than a year in jail and/or a $500 fine.  Local police contend that prostitution is not victimless: “Solicitation in different areas brings with it all sorts of different crimes,” stated Clayton County Officer Eddie. “With this one, we can say drugs, gangs, weapons [were brought] to the area.” Most of the men arrested were expected to bond out of the Clayton County Jail.