Elkridge is a census-designated place of approximately 22,000 residents, located in Howard County, Maryland. The community borders Baltimore–Washington International Airport.  The Route 1 corridor is one of the main problem areas in Elkridge, and other cities along the route (e.g., Linthicum, Jessup, Laurel) have also reported substantial prostitution and sex trafficking activity.  For example, in November 2017, two Baltimore men were arrested in a drug and human trafficking case at an Elkridge motel, and charged with offenses including human trafficking, prostitution, drug distribution, firearm violations, and drug distribution. Two patrol officers saw one suspect walking from a motel and allegedly reaching for a knife when the officers engaged him in conversation. Officers learned the man had set up a prostitution appointment at the motel in exchange for drugs. Officers found a 21-year-old woman engaging in prostitution at the motel. They believed the suspect rented the room and arranged prostitution appointments for the woman, while taking her money and trading sex with her for drugs.

In February, 2021, a North Carolina man was arrested on multiple charges, including human trafficking after he arranged “prostitution dates” at an Elkridge hotel. He was charged with 25 counts of human trafficking, prostitution, drug distribution charges and resisting arrest. Police said they had received a tip of “suspicious activity” at a hotel near Dorsey Road and Dorsey Run Road. An unnamed website, known by investigators to be used for prostitution, had advertisements offering sexual services at the hotel. After investigating the tip, police learned that the suspect stayed in a room together with three adult women, two of whom he brought in from North Carolina. He arranged “dates” for the women and kept most of the money after each engagement, provided the women with drugs, and threatened them to maintain control, according to police. Police arrested the suspect outside the hotel, and the three women were referred to HopeWorks, a sexual assault and domestic violence center in Howard County, for assistance. Multiple suspected drugs were found in the man’s possession during his arrest, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine. Additional drugs were also found in his hotel room.

To combat prostitution and sex trafficking in the area, local law enforcement agencies have targeted consumer-level demand for commercial sex, which provides the revenue stream driving all commercial sex and trafficking.  To identify and apprehend local sex buyers, Howard County police have conducted street-level reverse stings.  For example, in June 2006, the Howard County Police Department launched a month-long sting operation in response to community complaints about prostitution.  The sting resulted in the arrest of 17 male sex buyers and eight prostituted women.

In August, 2019, a web-based operation produced the arrest of three male sex buyers. Howard County police posting fake ads on websites used for prostitution, and when people responded and offered money in exchange for sex, made arrests.  Investigators made the arrests at a hotel in the 6700 block of Dorsey Road in Elkridge. The men were charged with solicitation of prostitution and disorderly conduct, and their photos and names released to the public.