Springdale is a town of approximately 3,000 residents, located just outside of Columbia in central South Carolina’s Lexington County. In the fall of 2006, the Springdale Police Department and Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET) collaborated to conduct two street-level reverse stings on Airport Boulevard. The operations used undercover female officers, who posed as prostituted women. When sex buyers attempted to solicit sex from the women, they were apprehended by police. Police released the names and photos of arrestees to the local media.

Another reverse sting in late February 2014, this time utilizing decoy online advertisements, was initiated in response to tips about prostitution and resulted in the arrests of 12 sex buyers. Again, all of the arrestees’ identities were disclosed to the press. A similar web-based reversal in September 2015 arrested 12 sex buyers. The offenders’ identities were again publicized.