Bloomington is a city of about 22,000 residents in San Bernardino County, southern California. Like law enforcement agencies in neighboring Ontario and San Bernardino, police have identified areas of the city where street prostitution occurs, and know that much of it is facilitated using the web for advertising and occurs indoors. To address these issues, the police have conducted at reverse stings.  For example, in September, 2018 a man was arrested for allegedly attempting to solicit an undercover officer during a “John” operation in Bloomington,  Members of the San Bernardino County Human Trafficking Task Force, working with deputies from the Fontana Station of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, conducted the operation at a motel near the 18000 block of Valley Boulevard. During the operation, undercover officers posed as prostituted women related to a fictitious online advertisement, posted on a website used for the solicitation of prostitution. Undercover officers received multiple responses to the advertisement where deals of sexual acts in exchange for money were made. While responding to the solicitations, one of the officers was contacted by a man who allegedly began pandering the officer to work for him “as a prostitute.”  Based upon the content of the conversation she had with the suspect, the officer believed he was directly involved in human trafficking, and agreed to a meeting with him.  The suspect arrived at the arranged location to meet and procure the undercover officer for prostitution. Upon his arrival, he was identified by assisting deputies who conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle he was driving and him into custody. He was  arrested and transported to West Valley Detention Center, where he was booked for felony violation of pandering. During the investigation, it was discovered that the man was currently out on bail for attempted homicide, which originated out of Ontario, CA in March of 2017.

In April 2013, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office announced a new policy targeting sex buyers. Dubbed the” Stop-the-Johns Project,” the initiative will document and publicize the names and photos of all individuals arrested and convicted of solicitation in the county. All sex buyers, including those arrested in Bloomington, may have their identities posted on the District Attorney’s website.