Lynwood is a city of approximately 66,000 residents, located in Los Angeles County, CA. The city is among the less affluent communities in the Los Angeles area, and has had longstanding and well-known problems with crime, including street prostitution – particularly along Long Beach Boulevard. Sex trafficking of high school girls has also been documented in the city, as well as assaults against prostituted women and girls. To combat consumer-level demand that drives both prostitution markets and sex trafficking, police have conducted reverse stings in Lynwood since at least 1991. Some of the operations are large-scale and result in many arrests; for example, one operation led to the arrest of 43 sex buyers. In May 2014, police conducted foot patrols along the streets of Lynwood as part of the Prostitution and John Abatement Foot Beat launched by the Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau. The purpose was to reduce or eliminate prostitution along the boulevard between Lynwood and Compton. Officers from the Century, Compton, and East Los Angeles sheriff’s stations along with deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department took part in the program. Personnel from the county Probation and Children and Family Services departments also were part of the task force along with city employees from the business license, parking and code enforcement divisions. The activity took place between Tucker Street in Compton and the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway in Lynwood. Police said the sex buyer patrols have been done in Compton, but never before in Lynwood. The operation resulted in 20 arrests, including prostitution, drug offenses, and outstanding warrants. Two 18-year-old males were arrested for the sex trafficking of a juvenile. About 40 sheriff’s personnel patrolled Long Beach Boulevard May 15 from 3 to 7 p.m.

The Major Crimes Bureau has been conducting task forces like this in other cities, including Compton. For example, in June 2019, eighteen men and four women were arrested during an operation by a sex trafficking task force in Compton and Lynwood. All the men arrested allegedly solicited undercover sheriff’s deputies for various sex acts, according to a deputy from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. The men were booked at the Inmate Reception Center. The operation by the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force included personnel from the FBI, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Children and Family Services, Probation Department, Los Angeles Unified School Police, Homeland Security Investigations, Saving Innocence, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking and state parole agents.

In October of 2008, the City of Lynwood approved an allocation of $250,000 for a LEVERAGE video surveillance camera project dedicated specifically to eliminate the problem with prostitution and the Lynwood’s Advance Surveillance and Protection (ASAP) was formed. The city created the task force in efforts to utilize technology and help the community unite and work as a team to reduce prostitution and related crimes in the city. By the end of October 2008 the first of 10 video surveillance cameras was installed on Long Beach Boulevard as a part of Lynwood’s National Crime Prevention Month activities. Additionally, numerous residents and business owners, with the inclusion and support from the Los Angeles County Sheriff, were present at the unveiling of the first video surveillance camera on Long Beach Boulevard and the new signs purchased for the project that read “Smile…You’re in Lynwood.” Strategically placed throughout the city, these signs were designed to put individuals who came to Lynwood with bad intentions on notice that they were entering a monitored public safety zone. Lynwood officials stated that the signs were intended to send offenders the message that prostitution and related activity would not be tolerated in the city.