Shreveport is a city of approximately 190,000 residents, located in northwest Louisiana. Most of the city lies within Caddo Parish.  While recent years have seen a slight decline in commercial sex-related arrests, the Shreveport Police Department has insisted that prostitution is a still a formidable problem in the city, and includes sex trafficking a numerous related crimes occurring in commercial sex transactions. Among the documented related crimes have been the endangerment of infants present during commercial sex, and other crimes of violence and drug offenses. To address these crimes, SPD officers utilize several demand-driven tactics to identify and apprehend sex buyers.  In September 2013, the Shreveport Police Department announced a “zero tolerance” policy regarding prostitution.

Reverse Stings

Street-level reverse stings, first implemented in 1986, have recently been conducted three to six times per month. Operations typically employ the use of one or more undercover female officers, who serve as decoys. When johns attempt to solicit sex from the women, they are arrested. A reverse sting occurring in March, 2013 resulted in the arrest of seven johns whose photos, names, home towns, and dates of birth were released to the media.  In their work, the SPD frequently collaborates with the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana State Police, and officers from neighboring Bossier City.

Web stings, first conducted in the city in 2005, have also been conducted at regular intervals (two to three times per month). As a warning to other would-be sex buyers, the Shreveport Police Department may release the names, ages, and addresses of arrestees on their website. In June 2012, Shreveport and Bossier City police participated in the FBI’s Operation Cross Country VI, a three-day sweep of individuals suspected to be engaged in the sex trafficking of minors. Of the 104 people arrested, 30 were apprehended in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. Law enforcement officials suspect the city’s location– situated along Interstate 20, on the state’s border with Texas and Arkansas– has led many to favor it for trafficking operations. In July 2019, thirteen men were arrested by Shreveport police and charged with solicitation of prostitution after allegedly offering an undercover officer money in exchange for sex.  The men reportedly offered to pay anywhere between $30 and $100. The sting operation occurred at a hotel in the Shreveport area.

In October, 2021, four men were arrested during operation ‘Party Over’ — aimed at targeting prostitution and human trafficking in Shreveport – and were charged with soliciting prostitution.  The nature of the operation (whether web-based or street level) was not reported. In August, 2022, Shreveport police conducted a special operation to combat human trafficking in the area, resulting in the arrests of eight people on prostitution and human trafficking offenses. Six of the arrests were sex buyers charged with soliciting prostitution, and their identities were included in news reports. In February, 2023, another 11 male sex buyers were arrested, and their identities included in news reports.

John School

In 2013, the Louisiana John School was launched covering Shreveport and Bossier City.  An excerpt from the program’s home page:

“Louisiana John School is a diversion or sentencing/probation condition program for people arrested for soliciting the services of a Commercial Sex Worker. As a comprehensive public health program the John School will address issues to include violence associated with prostitution, the link between prostitution and addiction, and the public health implications of the same. Offered to first time offenders and habitual offenders, classes range from a single one day course to several courses over several sessions. The single one day class is an eight-hour program offered on Saturdays only which features speakers and presentations on the above referenced topics. The multiple sessions class components of John School vary with greater specificity and intensity with each charge.”

The program is open to self-referrals and non-criminal-justice referrals, as well as accepting men arrested in reverse stings who attend as part of a diversion program or sentence.  Louisiana Law requires all persons convicted of Prostitution shall be referred for counseling concerning AIDS (Louisiana RS 14:82), and the program provides health counseling and expands the education topics to other areas.  The program is open to persons charged and/or convicted of: