Inglewood is a city of about 115,000 residents, located just south of Los Angeles near Hawthorne in Los Angeles County, California. Prostitution is a substantial problem in the city, and police have used a number of demand-reduction tactics in an attempt to control it.  The Inglewood Police Department has conducted reverse stings (some of them large-scale) and has posted press releases on the PD website that included the names, ages, race, gender, and city of residence of those arrested.  They also seize vehicles and will issue SOAP orders.  For example, in a 2005 operation undercover police officers posed as both prostituted women and johns, resulting in the arrests of 34 individuals for prostitution-related offenses. The operation also resulted in the impounding of 15 vehicles.  We know of at least 11 other reverse stings that have been conducted in Inglewood, the first occurring in 1974.  The release of the identities of arrested johns is meant specifically as a deterrent, and not just as routine “crime blotter” reporting.  The city’s press releases about reverse stings have contained the following message:

“The Inglewood Police Department has implemented a policy to post the names of individuals arrested during certain anti-prostitution operations, such as John Stings, in a continuing effort to deter this type of activity in the City. The arrestees’ names, along with their sex, race, age and city of residence, will be provided to local newspapers and other media sources after the conclusion of these operations.”   (source: “Persons Arrested for Prostitution Activity”, Press Release, Inglewood Police Department, July 17 2004)