Davis is a city of approximately 67,000 residents located west of Sacramento in Yolo County, CA. Due to the city’s close proximity to the city of Sacramento, instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented for decades. This activity and its ancillary crimes have generated residential reports to local law enforcement. Among the more serious crimes associated with the area’s commercial sex market are the commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sex trafficking. For example, in 2016, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office assisted in an online operation focused on apprehending individuals seeking to sexually exploit minors in exchange for money or drugs. The operation was conducted over Facebook and Craigslist through officers posting decoy child sex trafficking advertisements and communicating with respondents. The seven-month-long investigation resulted in the arrest of 33 men on charges of attempting to contact a minor to commit a felony, arranging meetings with a minor for lewd acts, attempting lewd acts, and arranging to sell marijuana to a minor, amongst other related charges. Their identities were included in reports by local media outlets.

In effort to reduce instances of prostitution and sex trafficking, various demand-reduction tactics have been employed in the city. For example, in 2016, the Davis Police Department participated in a web-based operation led by the Woodland Police Department designed to identify and rescue runaway juveniles who are often trafficked for sexual exploitation in addition to apprehending individuals seeking to sexually exploit minors in exchange for money. As a result of the investigation, two men were arrested on suspicion of sex trafficking/pimping, pandering, and a parole violation. Two adult prostituted women arrived at the motel separately in response to prearranged sexual agreements that were made on social media pages; neither of the women were charged. Additional participating state and local law enforcement agencies included the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, West Sacramento Police Department, Yolo Gang Task Force, Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, advocates from Empower Yolo, human trafficking experts from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and the Anaheim Police Department.

In addition to web-based reverse sting operations, local law enforcement have arrested sex buyers and sex traffickers through alternative investigations. For example, in 1979, the city reportedly experienced its first case of prostitution in 20 years. According to reports, a sex buyer reported the activity to local law enforcement after he was allegedly “ripped off” by a couple advertising sexual services in a local underground newspaper. Police stated that the operation focused on eliminating the demand for commercial sex in the city. The identities of arrested offenders were released by local law enforcement. In 1983, the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office arrested 22 individuals on prostitution-related charges. According to reports, Sheriff’s deputies visited a local nightclub suspected of permitting prostitution and gambling and found that the nightclub was hosting what was described as a “live auction,” in which sex acts were being auctioned and conducted on stage. As a result of the investigation, officers cited and released eight persons on misdemeanor charges and booked 14 others in the county jail on charges ranging from pandering and participating in illegal sex acts to drug use and gambling. The identities of some arrested sex buyers were included in reports by local media outlets.