Secret Side of the Playground - A Followup Report

Secret Side of the Playground - A Followup Report


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Debbie Dujanovic Reporting A police crackdown following an Eyewitness News Investigation. We showed you the secret- side of a popular public trail. Now the heat is on.

More officers, more money, more pressure on the men who use this area to hook up for sex. We showed you the problem -- it sent public officials scrambling to solve it.

If you see more officers out there , there's a reason. The secret's out, and officials are reacting. We showed you what goes on there-- men using Oxbow park at 3300 South and 1100 West to meet other men. We went undercover.

"What do you enjoy anyway?” “Oh, I don't know, I haven't really given it any thought to anything specific. How about you?” “Well, if it's fun I do it."

Lewd behavior happens in the park and nearby in the brush along the Jordan River Trail. During our investigation, we never saw an officer. But this week South Salt Lake's police chief approved funds for overtime shifts, officers are signing up to patrol the trail.

We hiked with two officers as they wrote down license plate numbers and talked to every person they ran into. Sitting in their cars, waiting for their friends, and those who were walking the trail. They're out to make it safe.

Chris Snyder, South Salt Lake Police Dept.: “We want people that go down there, families or anyone else, to feel like safety is not an issue, that it’s a good place to take your family.”

They've also cleaned up all the homeless camps that peppered the parkway; they posed a health and safety problem. Officers will also use ATV's to patrol out here this summer. And they're planning more undercover stings.

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