Frisco is a city of approximately 211,000 residents, located in the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas in Denton and Collin Counties. 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. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.

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. For example, in February 2015, officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, supported by the Dallas and Frisco Police Departments and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, staged a web-based reverse sting at a Frisco hotel. Law enforcement reported that they had the support and cooperation of hotel staff when staging the operation. During the investigation, officers placed a decoy advertisement to a website known for prostitution activity. Five men were arrested after they responded to the listing with an offer of money for sex; their names and other identifying information were publicized by some media outlets. In the days following the sting, it became apparent that the investigation was initiated as part of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office’s ninth annual National Day of Johns Arrests. In a press release, the CCSO listed the names of all participating law enforcement agencies, and indicated that the Texas Department of Public Safety had apprehended a total of 14 male sex buyers during the event. Similarly, the Dallas Morning News reported that court records for the men arrested in Frisco indicated that their arrests were “part of a multi-agency effort to combat the demand side of commercial sex trafficking.”

In January, 2023, forty-six individuals were recently arrested during a multi-agency operation – that included the Frisco Police Department – targeting the demand for commercial sex across North Texas. The joint law enforcement operation coincided with the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign to highlight Human Trafficking awareness month.  Among those arrested were a volunteer firefighter, youth pastor, a high school teacher and football coach, and the director of operations for a large hospital network in North Texas. About the operation, the Tarrant County Sheriff said:

“The victims of these heinous crimes are treated like commodities, used to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. Those who traffic victims are the scourge of the earth, and we will continue to target those responsible for the trafficking and those who solicit sex from them.”