Operation Cross Country VIII Roundup and Comments
There was yet another round of FBI Operation Cross Country in the end of June, making it the eighth nationwide prostitution sweep (supposedly) intended to “rescue” “children” who are in the sex trade (see my article, “Rescue is for Kittens: Ten Things Everyone Needs to Know about “Rescues” of Youth in the Sex Trade” for why this framework is problematic). As with the last few times, I’ve combed through hundreds of local news articles to uncover the full impact of the nationwide sweep on people in the sex trade, since FBI does not release a comprehensive national data.
Below, you will see an updated summary of all Operation Cross Country sweeps.
Source: FBI press releases; last updated in July 2014
Date | Cities | “Rescues” | “Pimps” | Other Arrest | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 06/25/2008 | 16 | 21 | unk | 389 |
2 | 10/27/2008 | 29 | 49 | 73 | 642 (518 adult sw) |
3 | 02/23/2009 | 29 | 48 | unk | 571 |
4 | 10/26/2009 | 36 | 52 | 60 | 700 |
5 | 11/08/2010 | 40 | 69 | 99 | 885 |
6 | 06/25/2012 | 57 | 79 | 104 | unk |
7 | 07/29/2013 | 76 | 105 | 159 | unk |
8 | 06/23/2014 | 106 | 168 | 281 | unk |
Here is a chart showing what local news media are reporting about OCC-VIII. Let me know if I am missing any news stories with additional data.
Source: FBI press release unless otherwise specified; last updated in July 2014
Division | “Rescue” | “Pimp” | Adult SWs | Notes | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albany | 0 | 0 | unk | ||
Albuquerque | 0 | 0 | unk | ||
Anchorage | 0 | 3 | unk | ||
Atlanta | 11 | 15 | 47 | arrested women are age 18-38 (median 23) | FBI Atlanta; WMAZ |
Baltimore | 2 | 5 | 33 | WBAL reports three “rescues,” contradicting FBI figure | WBAL; WMAR |
Birmingham | 1 | 3 | 14 | arrested women are age 19-34; “6-week old baby was also rescued”–is this one of the women’s child? | FBI Birmingham; WHNT; WAFF; WZDX |
Boston | 0 | 0 | unk | ||
Buffalo | 2 | 0 | unk | ||
Charlotte | 0 | 3 | unk | ||
Chicago | 13 | 4 | unk | ||
Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | unk | ||
Cleveland | 16 | 12 | at least 49 | 12 sw arrested in Boardman (ages 19-36, avg 25.67, median 25.5); 2 in Elyria (ages 19 and 20); 35 in Toledo. 4 minors “rescued” in Toledo are ages 15, 16 (x2), and 17. | WYTV; WFMJ; Chronicle-Telegram; Vindicator |
Columbia | 1 | 2 | unk | FBI Columbia | |
Dallas | 2 | 2 | unk | ||
Denver | 18 | 11 | 64 | “38 adults cited/arrested for prostitution, 26 adult victims/prostitutes contacted”; one minor identified as 16yo; two in Colorado Springs as 15yo boy and 17yo girl; boy “was trading se for a place to stay using an online website”; 13 women arrested in Pueblo, 4 more as “accomplices” | FBI Denver; KCSR; Colorado Springs Gazette; Billings Gazette; KXRM |
Detroit | 5 | 6 | unk | ||
El Paso | 0 | 1 | unk | El Paso Times reports 2 pimp arrests and 8 rescues, contradicting FBI; one victim identified as 16yo | El Paso Times |
Houston | 4 | 4 | unk | ||
Indianapolis | 4 | 3 | at least 10 | 10 sw arrested in Fort Wayne | WANE; WLFI; WISH |
Jackson | 2 | 19 | up to 53 | 12 sw and 3 drivers arrested in Rankin County | FBI Jackson; WDAM; Sun Herald; WAPT |
Jacksonville | 0 | 1 | 26 | FBI Jacksonville; Florida Times-Union | |
Kansas City | 2 | 7 | at least 4 | 4 sw in Springfield alone | KOLR |
Knoxville | 0 | 1 | at least 8 | Eight women were arrested for prostitution, four women were arrested for promoting prostitution, two women were arrested for human trafficking, and three men were cited for solicitation. | FBI Knoxville; Times Free Press; WBIR |
Las Vegas | 7 | 2 | at least 30 | 30 sw in Reno alone | Reno Gazette-Journal |
Little Rock | 2 | 5 | 36 | Associted Press; KFSM | |
Los Angeles | 10 | 12 | at least 54 | total of 60 arrests in Long Beach alone | FBI Los Angeles; Orange County Breeze |
Louisville | 0 | 4 | unk | ||
Memphis | 2 | 5 | unk | ||
Miami | 3 | 4 | unk | ||
Milwaukee | 6 | 12 | at least 13 | 13 sw in Racine County alone | FBI Milwaukee; WITI |
Minneapolis | 1 | 9 | unk | ||
Mobile | 0 | 0 | unk | ||
Newark | 1 | 8 | 37 | minor was age 14; “45 pimps and prostitutes” arrested | FBI Newark; Shore News Today |
New Haven | 1 | 1 | 44 | FBI New Haven | |
New Orleans | 3 | 17 | 75 | 5 sw in Alexandria, 17 in Baton Rouge, 10 in Lake Charles, 3 in Monroe, 17 in New Orleans, 23 in Shreveport | The Town Talk; Gannett Louisiana; KTBS; Bayou Buzz; WDSU |
New York | 3 | 3 | unk | FBI New York | |
Norfolk | 0 | 1 | unk | ||
Oklahoma City | 2 | 14 | 27 | KFOR; JohnTV; The Oklahoman | |
Omaha | 1 | 2 | unk | ||
Philadelphia | 0 | 2 | unk | ||
Phoenix | 5 | 21 | 52 | Yuma Sun reports 52 sw “rescued,” while FBI reports 42. Yuma Sun has further detail (breakdown by location), so I tend to believe it. | FBI Phoenix; Yuma Sun; KTVK |
Pittsburgh | 0 | 3 | 25 | “30 arrests on state charges, including three pimps and two adults that traveled for sex with a minor” leaving 25 arrests for adult women | FBI Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
Portland | 1 | 2 | 20 | FBI Portland; KOIN | |
Richmond | 0 | 2 | 26 | FBI Richmond; News & Advance | |
Sacramento | 9 | 7 | unk | FBI Sacramento | |
Salt Lake City | 0 | 0 | unk | ||
San Antonio | 6 | 3 | at least 6 | 6 women arrested in Austin for prostitution (ages 20-30, avg 26.67); 22yo woman arrested for “human trafficking” for “prostituting a 17-year-old girl”; the 22yo and 17yo were working together according to TWC News | FBI San Antonio; KVUE; Austin American-Statesman; KXAN; TWC News |
San Diego | 2 | 6 | 35 | 5 sw arrested in Oceanside alone; “rescues of 37 victims, including two minors” | FBI San Diego; The Coast News; KPBS |
San Francisco | 6 | 13 | 57 | Point Reyes Light; Marin Independent Journal; KTVU | |
Seattle | 4 | 13 | 56 | FBI Seattle | |
Springfield | 2 | 1 | unk | FBI Springfield | |
St. Louis | 0 | 1 | at least 2 | 2 sw (ages 19 and 20) in Columbia alone | FBI St. Louis; Columbia Tribune |
Tampa | 8 | 3 | up to 82 | Total 85 arrests, including 2 sw in Sarasota | FBI Tampa |
Washington | 0 | 2 | unk | ||
Total | 168 | 281 | (1000+?) |
Please note that I am counting the number of adults in the sex trade who were subjected to some form of police intervention as part of OCC-VIII, and not necessarily only those who were arrested or charged with prostitution. Many news stories disguise what actually took place (for example, writing “liberated from prostitution” when women are arrested), and some law enforcement officers seem to intentionally mislead the media (Portland Police Bureau reportedly told a reporter that they “did not arrest” any women, which is technically true, but left out the crucial fact that the women were given citations instead). I hope that someone would file FOIA requests with each FBI division to find out what happened to all these people.
While each Operation Cross Country campaign becomes bigger than the last, the overall patterns remain the same: large number of adult women in the sex trade are subjected to intervention by the law enforcement (most, though not all, are arrested or cited for prostitution or other related crimes); young people who are trading sex in order to escape from violence at home or in child welfare system and those who have safe home to go back to are lumped up together and involuntarily “rescued” back into the systems that they ran away from in the first place; young women and others who work with or alongside other young people are unfairly targeted as “pimps” even when there is no sign of any abuse or exploitation; Black and Brown men and women are profiled as “gang members” and “pimps” while the professionalized white rescue industry employ force, fraud or coercion to tell young people how they should live.
For more analysis on the “rescue” operations, please read the following articles:
- Rescue is for Kittens: Ten Things Everyone Needs to Know about “Rescues” of Youth in the Sex Trade
- Operation Cross Country VII Roundup and Comments
- Operation Cross Country VI: FBI’s campaign to “rescue” youth continue to cause mass arrests of adult women
- Pimping does not equal enslavement: thoughts on the resilience of youth and adults who have pimps