Overland Park, KS

Tactics Used

Auto Seizure
Buyer Arrests
Cameras
Community Service
Employment Loss
Identity Disclosure
IT Based Tactics
John School
Letters
License Suspension
Neighborhood Action
Public Education
Reverse Stings
SOAP Orders
Web Stings

Overland Park is a mid-sized city of about 170,000, situated in Johnson County in the southwestern suburbs of Kansas City, Kansas. Prostitution and sex trafficking (of both adults and minors) have been reported in the community for several years. Law enforcement report that complaints from residents have at times led to crackdowns on commercial sex activity.

In their efforts to reduce prostitution, the Overland Park Police Department has conducted at least four web-based reverse stings to identify and arrest sex buyers. Johns are intercepted after responding to a decoy advertisement suggesting prostitution and communicating with an undercover officer posing as a woman offering sex acts for money. Following their arrests, johns’ identities have at times been publicized in press.

Men arrested for buying sex in Overland Park have – when eligible – attended the john school program in Kansas City, MO run by Veronica’s Voice. Between 2008 and 2014, the city had sent 26 men to the Johnz School program in Kansas City.

In July, 2018, the Kansas Attorney General announced a new awareness campaign in Kansas is aimed at cutting the demand for prostitution as a way to fight human trafficking. The campaign involves state agencies and local advocacy groups teaming up to push the “Demand an End” initiative, which features education and announcements warning people that buyers of sex face charges. The campaign intends to promote a culture where buying sex is not acceptable. It is based on the assumption that the money from sex buyers fuels a marketplace that enables sex trafficking.

Key Partners

  • Overland Park Police Department
  • Johnson County Sheriff’s Office
  • Veronica’s Voice

 

Key Sources

State Kansas
Type City
Population 169403
Location
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