Bridgeport is located in Wise County Texas and has a population of roughly 6,000 residents. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and nearby communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.

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 December 2017, a reverse sting operation was conducted in Bridgeport, in response to complaints suggesting that there was prostitution activity in the community.  The operation was a collaborative effort that included the Bridgeport and Decatur police departments, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Decoy ads were placed online and the people seeking the services of the prostitutes, who were actually undercover officers, called to set up the meetings.  Numerous phone calls were received very soon after the ad was posted, and while many who called did not commit to show up and complete the commercial sex transaction, others did.  Two teams of were at locations in both Bridgeport and Decatur to meet the johns and make the arrests.  Six men were arrested on prostitution charges – three local residents, two from Fort Worth and one from Denton County. The identities of the men arrested for trying to buy sex were not released publicly.