Howard County is a county in West Texas with a population of roughly 34,000 residents. The county seat is Big Spring, TX. Prostitution activity in the county has a long, well-documented history. Prostitution became common on the Texas frontier after the Civil War, thriving at army forts, in cow towns and railroad towns, and other settlements. From the late 1860s to the 1880s soldiers stationed at federal military posts in West Texas and along the Mexican border generated commerce in prostitution, with camp laundresses sometimes doubling in prostitution. The construction of the Texas and Pacific Railroad precipitated the founding in the early 1880s of Abilene, Colorado, and Big Spring, three ranching centers where saloons, gambling dens, and prostitution attracted cowhands and other West Texans from throughout the region. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have continued through the present.

To address these and other crimes, police have used tactics that are designed to attack the revenue source: consumer-level demand. For example, in June 2018, the Big Spring Police Department announced that nine male sex buyers had been arrested in Howard County on charges stemming from a prostitution reverse sting. The release indicated that the sting was a joint operation between the Big Spring Police Department and the Howard County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Howard County District Attorney’s Office. During the operation, undercover investigators posted fictitious ads or profiles on various social media platforms and websites, posing as prostituted persons. Despite the repeated warnings and media coverage of past operations, at least 90 suspects responded to the ads and nine drove to different undercover locations to engage in illegal prostitution. Six sex buyers were arrested on prostitution charges and three sex buyers were arrested on the charge of prostitution solicitation of a minor. The offenders’ identities, photos, ages, and charges were included in press releases.