Tactics

There are at least 15 major types of tactics that have been used in more than 2,660 U.S. cities and counties to deter people from buying sex, and to identify and sanction those who have not yet been dissuaded. More than 83% of the U.S. population lives within these cities and counties. The numbers of jurisdictions that have ever employed each type of tactic are presented in the following table.

To list or map the cities and counties in which any of these tactics have been used, please visit our Browse Locations or Map Locations pages.

[ Last updated:  March 21, 2023 ]

* Please note that the count of sites using IT-based tactics represents a lower limit. The number of cities and counties in which sex buyers have been exposed to deterrence messages via these tactics is certainly in the hundreds, if not more. We base this count of 78 cities and counties on the number of jurisdictions in which these tools have been deployed by Streetgrace in collaboration with local law enforcement partners. Other tools developed by other organizations have been deployed in dozens of additional cities and counties, but many collaborators using IT based tactics do not wish the jurisdictions to be identified, believing that doing so would undermine their effectiveness.

Click on a tactic below to learn more.