Dozens Arrested in Two-Week Crime Sweep
Jul 26, 2018, 1:06 PM | Updated: Jul 27, 2018, 1:21 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Public Safety says troopers have been focusing on the North Temple area over the past two weeks.
Thursday morning, the department released the following arrest numbers that they say show they’re making an impact:
- 87 narcotic arrests
- 35 warrants served
- 7 fugitives arrested
- 39 drug dealers arrested
- 43 drug distribution charges
- 1,486 total hours worked by DPS troopers
DPS officer stats for the last 2 weeks on North Temple: 87 narcotic arrests, 35 warrants served, 7 fugitives arrested, 39 drug dealers arrested, 43 drug distribution charges & 1,486 total hours worked by DPS officers. #operationriogrande https://t.co/ld6hSomNtA
— Utah Public Safety (@UtahDPS) July 26, 2018
While North Temple has always been a part of Operation Rio Grande, the Salt Lake City crime sweep, Lt. Rob Nixon says they’ve put even more emphasis on the North Temple area since the beginning of July.
Lt. Rob Nixon says the push here isn’t taking resources away from the Rio Grande area. Rather, DPS is bringing troopers in from central and southern Utah to help.
“Anytime we can reduce crime and get some of the predators out of the area that are preying on our population it’s absolutely worth it,” said Lt. Nixon.
This hyper-focus coupled with a new Salt Lake City Police substation is impacting neighbors and business owners in a positive way.
“This has been an overnight transformation. There’s no longer people camped out and in front of this street in front of The Gateway Inn and in front of The Former Arctic Circle,” said Nigel Swaby, who lives nearby and is also an area chamber member.
Swaby continues to push for growth and progress in the area, “If you ever take TRAX over here, you’ll see a lot of people carrying bags from the airport. This is the first thing they see about Salt Lake when they get close to downtown, and it’s not the right impression we want to leave.”
Lt. Nixon says officials were slated to do a 30 day sting in this area, but at this point their timeline is indefinite. They want to make sure the crime problem here won’t continue.
“This week I do know that crime was reduced by a little over 40 percent at this point, which is a staggering number. It’s a big number. Again it’s a big credit to the officers, the agents, the troopers that are down in the area just working really hard reducing that,” he said.
