However, Dhanoa said, the high volume of arrests and recoveries is also a reflection of law enforcement agencies being able to tap into additional resources that aren’t available year-round.
“This effort shows that when we’re all in a room together and have this opportunity to all work our resources in one place and our strategies, it’s a much quicker process,” Csiky said. “It just matters how much manpower is put into the effort.”
Both Dhanoa and Csiky said the operation’s focus on recovering victims of trafficking was especially significant. Dhanoa said some similar operations in the past have focused more on arrests of traffickers and less on victim identification and contact with potential survivors.
But while the operations can lead to recoveries of trafficking victims, some sex work advocates say they also negatively affect those who aren’t being trafficked.
Maxine Doogan, who describes herself as a “working prostitute of 30-plus years,” said that when such operations are going on, it puts her and other sex workers in an “economically disadvantaged position.”
“It’s really hard for people to turn down opportunities to make money, because this time of year is always traditionally very slow,” she told KQED. During such operations, she said, “anybody that was new, I wouldn’t answer their call. I would be too scared.”
“I couldn’t risk having an arrest, and then having to dig myself out of that while I’m trying to provide housing and food for myself and my children,” she said.
A Super Bowl Banner decorates the exterior of Levi’s Stadium in San José on Jan. 28, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)
Dhanoa acknowledged that an unintended consequence of these operations has sometimes been arresting “individuals who don’t identify as survivors.”
Lt. Josh Singleton, the anti-trafficking task force’s commander, said Santa Clara County does not criminalize sex work.
Still, he said, the department treats commercial sex workers as “potential victims.”
“Our team always takes a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach,” Singleton told KQED. “It can be very challenging to distinguish the difference between a commercial sex worker who’s working independently on their own versus someone who’s being trafficked by somebody else.”
According to Singleton, the task force’s 29 arrests were for pimping, pandering, human trafficking of an adult or human trafficking of a minor. An additional 36 commercial sex buyers were cited or arrested for solicitation.
