Pompano Beach is a city of approximately 111,000 residents located north of Fort Lauderdale in Broward County, Florida. Like many cities in the county, Pompano has struggled with chronic street prostitution along its three major highways– Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1, and Florida State Road 811– since at least the late 1980s. It was also one of several South Florida communities targeted in the early 1990s for its many sex-oriented businesses.

As the highways’ prostitution activities often affected several cities (and unincorporated areas), early anti-prostitution efforts in the area were often led by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. News reports suggest the BSO has conducted street-level reverse stings in Pompano since at least 1991. The Pompano Beach Police Department has also conducted street-level reverse stings to intercept sex buyers, beginning as early as 1995. At times the two law enforcement agencies have joined forces to conduct multi-site, large-scale reverse stings, bringing in as many as 575 arrests over the course of several days. Arrestees’ names are not typically released to the public. A recent example of a reverse sting occurred in April 2014, in which the Broward Sheriff’s Office targeted prostitution, human trafficking, and drug cases by conducting reversals and other tactics in several different cities as part of a county-wide “sweep” that resulted in 97 arrests in one day.

A former community activist facing trial on unlawful compensation and bribery charges was arrested in a prostitution sting in 2012 in Pompano Beach. Investigators from the Broward Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on March 31 near the Relax Inn and charged him with one count of soliciting another for lewdness.  Two Broward Sheriff’s deputies were posing undercover as prostitutes on the 1400 block of Northwest 31st Avenue when, according to incident reports, they were approached by the suspect, who negotiated with the two deputies to perform an oral sex competition for $50 and met them at a hotel room where he was arrested. The man’s identity was disclosed publicly.

Also in 2012, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested during an undercover prostitution sting and charged with Soliciting Another for Lewdness. According to the arrest affidavit, the off-duty deputy approached a female officer working undercover as a prostitute on the 1200 block of NW 31 Avenue in Pompano Beach and solicited her for oral sex. In exchange, he offered her $20. The undercover officer agreed to the deal and told the man to park his car and follow her to a nearby hotel, which was under surveillance by BCSO deputies. He reportedly declined the room, allegedly saying he preferred the car. Nearby officers signaled to the undercover that the deal was complete, and he was subsequently arrested. The man’s identity was disclosed publicly.

In September 2018, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office arrested 11 male sex buyers in a street-level reverse sting conducted along a two-mile stretch of Dixie Highway from East Atlantic Boulevard north to East Copans Road in Pompano Beach. The six-hour operation was conducted in response to complaints by business owners and residents. The identities of all the arrestees were disclosed by police.

Loss of employment is another consequence of purchasing sex that has occurred within the city. For example, in January 1998, a veteran Pompano Beach police detective resigned amid allegations that he solicited a prostituted woman while on duty in his patrol car. The man had been a detective for the department for eight years but was under investigation by the Broward State Attorney’s Office. On the afternoon of Dec. 31, 1997, the man reportedly approached a prostituted woman in the 1000 block of Northeast 12th Avenue. He was returning from the Broward County Courthouse and was on duty when he was caught in the reverse sting operation conducted by Fort Lauderdale police. He was detained by police, who then took his statement and released him. The police chief was immediately notified of the incident, he was placed on administrative duty, and an internal affairs investigation was initiated. The next week, the man turned in his resignation letter, saying he would end his career with the department.