Cape Canaveral is a city of approximately 10,000 residents, located in Brevard County on a barrier island along Florida’s east coast. It is perhaps best known as the NASA launch site of several Kennedy Space Center missions. Prostitution activity has been well-documented within the county, and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses.

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. The city has conducted at least one street-level reverse sting. In September 2002, undercover female deputies from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office posed as prostituted women along city streets. Seventeen sex buyers solicited sex from the undercover officers, including a BCSO employee. All were arrested and booked into the Brevard County Detention Center. One sex buyer was reportedly fined $500 and could face a maximum of 60 days in jail, although sex buyers seldom serve jail time, and we do not know if any time was served in these cases. Some men arrested in reverse stings have had their identities released publicly, from the 2002 operation forward. Since 2017, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has posted photos and other identifying information online of those arrested for soliciting prostitution and other offenses.