Walnut Creek is a city of about 70,000 residents in the greater San Francisco Bay area, about 15 miles east of Oakland, California in Contra Costa County. Prostitution is an established problem in the area, including indoor prostitution in storefront brothels.  Cases of child sex trafficking have also been well-documented within the city.

In their efforts to reduce prostitution activity, the Walnut Creek Police Department has conducted reverse stings targeting sex buyers. For example, in July 2009, WCPD officers launched a web-based reversal after receiving “reports of continuing problems with prostitution and other crimes at local motels.” Five men were arrested as a result of the investigation; although the logistical details of the operation were not reported, one media source reported that undercover officers identified the men after being “contacted via the Internet and phone by [the] suspects in the lead-up to the sting.” The sex buyer names were not released to the public; however, their ages and hometowns were covered by some press outlets.

In February 2020, the results from the statewide “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild” were announced. The week-long operation was led by the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force and involved 70 participating federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies (including the Walnut Creek Police Department) and task forces from across California. In addition to recovering and serving victims of sex trafficking and arresting then prosecuting their captors, Operation Reclaim and Rebuild also sought to disrupt the demand for vulnerable victims by targeting sex buyers. Investigators focused enforcement operations wherever the trafficking of human beings took place and included street-level and internet-based operations. The operation deployed specially trained cyber detectives who posed as vulnerable teenagers and interacted with potential traffickers and sex buyers who sought to exploit and sexually abuse children. Operation Reclaim and Rebuild resulted in the arrest of 266 male sex buyers for the charge of solicitation, as well as the recovery of 76 adult and 11 minor victims and the arrest of 27 suspected traffickers. In the press release announcing these results, the head of the task force said, “To the Johns: Purchasing commercial sex is illegal and buying sex adds to the exploitation of those involved.” Downloadable Material: Talking Points and Slides