Cedartown is a city of approximately 10,000 residents, situated in northwestern Georgia’s Polk County. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and throughout the region. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking. Prostitution related violence – including homicide – has also occurred within the city.

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. To address the issue, the Polk County Police Department has conducted at reverse stings targeting sex buyers. In early March 2014, PCPD officers reported they arrested five men following a prostitution sting at a Cedartown hotel. Although the department provided little details about the operation, one media outlet reported that during the two-day sting police arrested two men solicitation of prostitution charges; one man on prostitution charges; and one man on solicitation of sodomy charges. The same news agency publicized mugshots of each of the arrestees.