Kingston is a city of approximately 24,000 residents, located north of Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, and is the county seat of Ulster County, New York. Prostitution has posed chronic and persistent problems in the community for several years. In addition, a prostituted woman was murdered in Kingston after being hit and dragged by a vehicle driven by two teenagers who had picked her up for sex.

In an effort to reduce commercial sex activity, the Kingston Police Department has conducted periodic reverse stings starting around 2008. Operations are typically conducted at street level, using one or more female undercover officers as decoys. Once arrested, sex buyers often have had their names and other identifying information released to the public.