Fair Haven is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of New Haven, CT, in New Haven County, located between the Mill and Quinnipiac rivers, and has a population of approximately 39,000 residents. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the neighborhood and surrounding areas for decades. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Prostitution is most frequently reported to occur along the Quinnipiac River and is believed to be fueled by New Haven’s long-standing reputation as an area containing significant drug use and high crime rates. Until recently, the majority of efforts to eradicate prostitution and sex trafficking were oriented toward arresting people in prostitution.

More recently, efforts to reduce the demand for prostitution in the area have been reported. For example, in 2008, the New Haven Police Department initiated a series of reverse sting operations for the first time in the neighborhood’s history, targeting male sex buyer in areas historically known for prostitution. According to reports, the NHPD arrested 22 male sex buyers within the first four weeks of the operation. During these operations, video cameras were used to record evidence of the sex buyer’s interactions and subsequent arrests by undercover female officers. The identities and images of arrested sex buyers were released to local media outlets.

Loss of employment is also a consequence of buying sex in the neighborhood. For example, in December 2020, a former Fair Haven police officer resigned amid allegations that he solicited sex from a prostituted woman on repeated occasions. The investigation was sparked by an allegation that a Fair Haven officer had raped a prostituted woman in the neighborhood. According to reports, both on and off duty, the former officer would allegedly find the woman, tell her to get in his car, and rape her. A second woman made similar accusations, and once alerted to the allegations, the Chief of Police ordered an internal investigation in addition to the criminal investigation. As a result of both investigation, the former officer resigned from his position. The New Haven Chief of Police said that if the officer hadn’t resigned, he would have called for a special session of the Board of Police Commissioners to move to fire the offender. With his resignation, the sex buyer lost his state certification, which he would need to obtain employment with another department. The resignation did not protect him from potentially facing additional criminal charges. In 2021, the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) unanimously voted to revoke the former police officer’s certification. In November 2021, a former New Haven police officer was arrested for patronizing prostitution, following an eight-month internal investigation. According to reports, on April 5, 2021, a woman reported that the former officer attempted to solicit sex acts from her. The former officer was placed on administrative leave the same day as the report, and both an internal affairs investigation and a criminal investigation were initiated. As a result of the investigation, an arrest warrant was obtained, and the former officer turned himself in.  The warrant charged the former officer with patronizing a prostitute, and bond was set to $25,000.