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SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City police are crediting surveillance cameras for nearly eliminating drug deals at Pioneer Park.
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The cameras went up last February, along with signs advertising that the area was under 24-hour surveillance. Since then, police say calls for assistance at the park have been cut in half.
In 2007, officers were called out 971 times. So far this year, they've been called just 498 times. Data from 2008 was excluded because of park construction.[Click here for more detailed information]
"What we've really seen it drop in is drug dealing," Snyder said, adding that since February officers have only made a couple of drug arrests.
But police admit the dealing has been displaced, not stopped.
"It may push into other areas, but it has inconvenienced the drug dealers. If nothing else, they're losing some of their customers," Snyder said.
The displacement of dealers is not a secret to Ron Martensen, who owns "Mechanized", a shop near 200 South and 550 West. He has seen an increased police presence, but he's also seen a lot of problems.
"I think that's the whole thing with--the camera is a great indicator it's just going to move somewhere else," Martensen said. "We'd have people standing directly in front of our door. The door opened outward, so you couldn't open the door without hitting them."
Snyder says police have focused new efforts in the area.
"Just last night [police] made 22 arrests," she said.
That wasn't a surprise to business owners who say the drug problem has been around for years.
"We've been dealing with that since we moved into the area. We've been here for seven years," Martensen said. "I've come into the parking lot at 6 a.m. before, and there's people making deals right there in the parking lot."
Police say other business owners have contacted them, requesting they install additional cameras, but Snyder says that isn't in the plans right now.
The Salt Lake City Police Department has a strict policy regarding the use of cameras and the length of time images are stored. Police say the cameras are accessed on a weekly basis at random intervals. Since installation, the archive imaging hasn't needed to be used for evidence because there were hardly any cases.
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Story compiled with contributions from Sandra Yi, Marc Giauque and Nicole Gonzales.
