Glendale, CA

Tactics Used

Auto Seizure
Buyer Arrests
Cameras
Community Service
Employment Loss
Identity Disclosure
IT Based Tactics
John School
Letters
License Suspension
Neighborhood Action
Public Education
Reverse Stings
SOAP Orders
Web Stings

Glendale is a city of 192,000 in the greater Los Angeles area, located in Los Angeles County, CA. Local prostitution is associated with a wide range of crimes and other problems, including child sex trafficking and the targeting of prostituted women for serial rape and homicide.

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. Tactics used by the community include those focusing on reducing demand for commercial sex. The Glendale Police Department conducts street-level reverse stings about four times per year and has recently conducted web-based reverse stings. Police also run a public education and awareness campaign addressing the demand for commercial sex. Reverse stings have occurred in the city since 1988, and possibly before. For example, in 1992, a street-level reverse sting operation resulted in the arrest of 24 male sex buyers. The men were arrested after attempting to solicit sex from undercover female officers. During a reversal in October of 2013, two female police decoys arrested five sex buyers during a four-hour operation. The men were released from the scene, with orders to appear in court at a later date. In addition to reverse stings, police have also apprehended offenders as a result of other investigations or from routine traffic stops. For example, in 2008, in what had initially began as a drug arrest, resulted in the arrest of two men suspected of sex trafficking underage girls at a local motel. Police then decided to conduct a reverse sting at the motel, which resulted in the arrest of four male sex buyers.

Loss of employment is another consequence of buying sex that has occurred within the city. For example, in February of 2016, a charge against a former Glendale police sergeant accused of soliciting a prostituted woman at a Las Vegas casino was dismissed after he paid a $1,000 fine, “stayed out of trouble,” and completed an AIDS awareness class. The offender had been arrested and charged in 2014 after attempting to solicit sex from undercover detective posing as a prostituted person in exchange for $250, in addition to $25 in gas money. After his arrest, the officer was placed on paid administrative leave, and then retired from the Glendale Police Department.

Key Sources

National Assessment Survey (2012)

Reverse Stings:

Sex Buyer Fired or Resigned Due to Arrest:

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:

State California
Type City
Population 192366
Location
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