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PROVO — Police went door-to-door downtown Wednesday night in an attempt to ease neighborhood concerns over drugs and crime.
Lt. Brandon Post said Thursday that Operation “Knock and Talk” targeted three motels and netted 38 “contacts,” 6 arrests and 4 probation violations.
“The residents who live in these motels are the ones who have been calling us and asking for our presence there,” Post said.
Post said the focus on the motels represents a data-driven approach by the police department.
The motels, he said, were sites to a high volume of police calls and responses.
“What we do is we try to put cops on the dots and go where we’re getting a lot of calls,” Post said.
The operation, Post said, was conducted with the cooperation of the motels’ owners.
The residents who live in these motels are the ones who have been calling us and asking for our presence there.
–Lt. Brandon Post
“The vast majority of people there – they would open their door cautiously until they saw it was the police and then they’d open the door and say thank you and they appreciated our efforts and they were glad we were there,” Post said.
One of the residents of one of the motels told KSL he was grateful that police knocked on his door.
“It’s always good for police to come through, make sure everything is good and safe,” said Dave, who asked that his last name not be used. “I feel a heck of a lot better.”
Dave said he had been staying at the motel for a couple nights.
Previously, he said he had been staying at another downtown motel with worse problems.
“I had more trouble over at that other place,” Dave said. “They’re running a hooker operation out of there and dealing drugs.”
Another man who asked not to be identified at all also expressed gratitude for the police interest in the area.
“It’s a good thing,” he said. “(It) shows they’re around and they’re here to help.”
