Maywood is a village of approximately 24,000 residents located just west of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city, surrounding communities, and other areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. To curtail local prostitution, the Maywood Police Department has conducted several street-level reverse stings using undercover female officers as decoys. Between 1998 and 2000, the MPD implemented a series of large-scale sex and drug stings, resulting in the arrests of dozens of sex buyers.

As much of the village’s prostitution-related arrests have occurred along the same roads, Maywood police have also adopted tactics to monitor activities in targeted “problem areas.” In November 2004, the MPD began installing surveillance cameras on buildings near highly trafficked intersections. The cameras were remotely monitored by police stationed in the village’s 911 center, allowing officers to dispatch a patrol car at the first sign of illegal activity.

Similarly, in March 2009, the Maywood Village Board adopted an ordinance establishing a series of “Prostitution Free Zones.” The ordinance, which identified a handful of areas associated with commercial sex sales, allowed law enforcement to arrest individuals with previous solicitation convictions “on the spot” if they are seen loitering in the vicinity. Sex buyers who violated the ordinance may face an additional $1,500 fine.

As Maywood police have not discussed a formal identity disclosure policy, most (although not all) of the village’s arrested sex buyers do not have their names released to the media. If sex buyers are arrested while attempting to solicit sex from a vehicle, however, they may have their car seized and towed.

In August of 2018, the Maywood Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office partnered with law enforcement from Matteson and Lansing in a joint sting which led to the arrest of 73 potential sex buyers.