Hempstead is a village in Nassau County on Long Island, New York with a population of about 50,000.  Both prostitution and sex trafficking have been identified as local problems in many areas of Long Island, including Hemptstead.  In response to resident complaints, police have conducted street-level reverse stings since 1975.  One operation netted 35 arrests of sex buyers in one night.  Arrested sex buyers may be given the option of rehabilitation, counseling, and classes on sexually transmitted diseases.  In 1990, the Hempstead police chief said,

”I think we are the only community on Long Island that puts female decoy cops wearing wires on the street.  We videotape and then we arrest the johns. Between January and May of 1989, we arrested 241 prostitutes and 237 johns. We find that after we arrest a john we never see him back. It’s helping to curtail the problem.”