Alexandria is a city of approximately 150,000 residents, located just south of Washington in Virginia. The presence of prostitution and sex trafficking in the city has been extensively documented, and local residents have reported suspected commercial sex and trafficking to local law enforcement. A wide range of problems driven by the commercial sex market have been documented in the city and surrounding areas, including child sex trafficking, and the rape, assault, and murder of women engaged in prostitution (including the activity of more than one serial rapist and murderer who specifically targeted sex sellers). A pimp has also been murdered in the city, while being robbed by MS-13 gang members.

To address the issue, the Alexandria Police Department frequently collaborates with the Fairfax County Police Department to conduct street-level reverse stings. The operations, once limited to the Route 1 Corridor, are now conducted along a variety of major thoroughfares, using undercover female officers as decoys. As sex buyers attempt to solicit sex from the women, they are apprehended by police. Once arrested, sex buyers may have their vehicles seized and impounded, as per a 2003 city ordinance. The Fairfax County Police Department routinely publishes arrestees’ names and other identifying information on their official website.