Bluefield is a city of just under 10,000 residents, located along West Virginia’s southern border in Mercer County. Street prostitution has posed persistent and visible problems in the area for decades. The city has also documented cases of child sexual exploitation and the forced sex trafficking of a minor. In 2006, a Bluefield resident contacted a young woman online, and “convinced her to travel to Bluefield for the purpose of prostitution.” He later transported the girl to Miami where he “‘continued to direct her to engage in prostitution” until he was arrested by the FBI and the Miami Minor Vice Squad.

In an effort to reduce commercial sex activity in the area, the Bluefield Police Department has conducted at street-level reverse stings that target underlying demand for prostitution. The stings have used both civilian informants and undercover female officers as decoys. In their efforts, the BPD frequently collaborates with the Princeton Police Department to pool resources needed to conduct stings. Following their arrests, sex buyer names, ages, and hometowns are reported in local news sources

News reports suggest declines in prostitution due to these operations by police in Princeton and Bluefield, along with the members of the Southern Regional Drug & Violent Crime Task Force.  However, police in Brushfork and Bluewell say their communities have experienced increases in prostitution, and believe that there may be displacement caused by Princeton and Bluefield successfully applying pressure to their commercial sex markets.