Miami Shores is a village located in Miami-Dade County, FL, with a population of approximately 11,500 residents. Although prostitution activities in the village are reportedly limited, there have been documented cases, including one case in 2013, where a local pimp/sex trafficker was arrested for sex trafficking a 13-year-old girl. When the victim attempted to escape, the pimp/sex trafficker tattooed his street name on her eyelids.

The Miami Shores Police Department has taken a proactive approach regarding the community’s commercial sex market. Officers began conducting street-level reverse stings as early as 1983. One such operation, conducted in July 1986, resulted in the arrest of nine sex buyers. Their names and identities were not disclosed to the media.

Miami-Dade County John School:

In 2018, The Office of the State Attorney of Miami-Dade County introduced a pre-trial diversion (PTD) program for non-violent, first-time offenders facing misdemeanor prostitution charges. The program, called Demand More, is the first of its kind for Miami-Dade County and seeks to educate those charged with these types of misdemeanor violations about the dangers and realities associated with prostitution and human trafficking.

Demand More has two tracks: one for prostituted persons and one for sex buyers. For prostituted persons, it provides counseling and ancillary services to assist them in overcoming the challenges that have kept them in the cycle of prostitution. For sex buyers, it exposes them to their role in the perpetuation of prostitution and the horrors of human trafficking. Overall the program aims at reducing demand for prostitution and sex trafficking through educational services for both prostituted persons and sex buyers in Miami-Dade County.