Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida with a population of approximately 78,000 near Palm Bay. Melbourne police began conducting reverse stings in 1986. Also in 1986, police began releasing the names of those arrested for solicitation of prostitution.  Joint sting and reverse stings are still conducted on a periodic basis, driven in part by community complaints to police about prostitution.  For example, in 2011, Melbourne police arrested four people as part of a sting targeting people who patronize prostitutes.  The four men all faced charges of solicitation for prostitution, and one also was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of oxycodone, possession of alprazolam and possession of drug paraphernalia. The arrests happened in the south end of the city near the U.S. Highway 1 corridor and in the north end around U.S. 1 and Aurora Road.  An operation in December 2012, produced the arrest of one prostituted woman and three johns. Following their arrest, their identities were publicized in local media outlets. Another operation in June, 2019  produced similar results, and was also conducted in response to community complaints about prostitution and related problems in south Melbourne (the complaints reportedly described “a constant stream of prostitutes” plaguing the Riverview Park vicinity).