St. Lucie is a largely rural county with a mid-sized city – Port St. Lucie – and several smaller towns, with a combined population of approximately 329,000. The Sheriff’s Office references community complaints as one of their main reasons for pursuing prostitution, which they chose to address – in part – through efforts to combat demand. Law enforcement officials have acknowledged prostitution as a substantial local problem. The first known use of anti-demand tactics in the county is unknown. But we do know that a large-scale web-based reverse sting occurred in 2008, which targeted sex buyers as well as sellers and pimps. Another reverse sting occurred in 2011. In the latter, the names of arrestees were released to the public. The Sheriff’s Office collaborated with investigators from the Port St. Lucie Police Department on the web-based reverse sting.