Coral Gables, FL

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

Coral Gables is a city southwest of Miami, Florida, with a population of approximately 49,000. Cases of “rampant” prostitution and sex trafficking have been reported in the community for decades, and residents have complained to police about these activities. Local law enforcement agencies have employed demand-reduction tactics to curtail commercial sex activity. For example, in 2003, police arrested eight people in a prostitution sting, which was launched after authorities received a tip about workers at two massage parlors possibly soliciting sex. The two-month investigation found that female workers offered to perform sexual acts on undercover detectives, but the detectives refused. Male customers were paying up to $200 for sex, police said. Officers seized cash, documents, and surveillance video from a hidden camera inside one of the businesses. The eight people arrested were not identified. They face charges of solicitation of prostitution, sexual misconduct while performing a massage, and performing massages without a license. The owner of one brothel was also arrested and charged with operating a massage establishment without a license and employing other individuals in an unlicensed massage establishment. In 2007, a veteran male police officer with the Coral Gables Police Department was arrested after soliciting sex from a female “police informant” working with CGPD officers. Following his arrest, the man’s identity was disclosed to the public.

Key Partners

  • Coral Gables Police Department

Key Sources

Sting operation:

Ad Hoc Reverse Sting with Identity Disclosure:

  • “Coral Gables Officer Nabbed for Soliciting Woman for Sex,” Miami Herald, June 10 2007.
  • “CORAL GABLES: Gables Cop Accused of Sexual Solicitation, A Police Officer Was Arrested After Allegedly Soliciting Sex from an Informant, Investigators Said,” Miami Herald, June 11 2007.
  • “CORAL GABLES: Arrested Officer Has Had Troubled, Praised Past, A Police Officer who Was Arrested Sunday Has Had a String of Other Complaints against Him — but None Filed in the Last Decade,” Miami Herald, June 14 2007.

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

State Florida
Type City
Population 49248
Location
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