Palatine is a village in Cook County, Illinois, with a population of approximately 68,000. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. The county has experienced a wide range of problems associated with commercial sex, including child sex trafficking and homicides of both those being sold for sexual access and those who purchase them. Within Palatine, prostitution activity has been well-documented, and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies, and resulting actions to combat the sex trade in local residences, storefront businesses, and hotels.  For example, in October, 2009, an Arlington Heights police officer — part of a task force investigating prostitution ads on Craigslist — arrested two women after they allegedly agreed to perform a sex act for $200. The police responded to an ad which led to a meeting with a woman at a hotel near Northwest Highway near Route 53 in Palatine. The woman was charged with felony pandering after she was discovered to be a person posting the Craigslist ads and vetting customers that responded to the ads. A second woman was charged with prostitution.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. Throughout the county, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has supported many local communities in conducting reverse stings.  In the city of Palatine, a law enforcement respondent to the 2021 National Assessment Survey reported that street-level reverse stings have been implemented in the city since 2021, and will likely average one per year or less.