SANDY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Cops on ATVs? It may sound a little strange but police in one of Utah's biggest cities say it's the best way to fight crime in the summertime.
Wherever teenagers gather, you’ll probably find members of the Sandy Police Department’s “Youth Unit.” Officers Ish Marquez and Jason Weiss know where the teens are and what they’re doing.
They’re responsible for most of the crime in this city, says Officer Weiss. “You eliminate juvenile crime and this city’s crime rate plummets.”
As unusual as their unit may be, their methods are even more off-beat. Today, they’re patrolling on Rhinos, four-wheeled ATVs that take Officers Marquez and Weiss into the heavily wooded areas along the creek that runs through Dimple Dell Park.
"The kids love to come here," says Marquez as we look at spray-painted graffiti on a concrete drain.
Gangs once gathered here in the park, until Youth Unit officers pushed them out last year.
Marquez and Weiss also patrol the TRAX commuter train stops. Today, they find a 17 year-old girl they've arrested before.
“She was a member of a gang we had problems with around here,” says Weiss.
"Are these cops hassling you?" I ask Shalee Lawrence. "No," she responds. "They're asking me questions about what I'm doing, making sure I'm not doing something bad."
Lawrence says she doesn't mind the interruption at all, now that she's out of trouble and doing the right thing. She boards the train, bound for Salt Lake City, where she says she’s going to hunt for a job.
Hiking through the park with Marquez and Weiss, we approach a bridge abutment that has been spray painted with graffiti.
"Is that a gang tag or is that just someone's idea of art?" I ask.
"It's probably a gang tag," says Weiss. "I've seen the dollar symbol before."
"It is a unit that's specifically designed for no other purpose than to come out here and watch," says Sandy Police Sergeant Troy Arnold. "Whenever the kids are out, during the daytime and during the nighttime, they'll be out here," he says.
The sergeant extoles the virtues of this unusual crime fighting unit.
"Their job is to know the young people in this community and to work with them so the kids know whether they need a cop or whether they come here to commit crime, the police are going to know about it."
Marquez and Weiss make frequent stops at the skate park near Jordan High School. Here, they appear to be making casual conversation with kids. What they're actually doing is intelligence gathering.
Marquez introduces himself to a pair of teenagers sitting near the skate park entrance, smoking cigarettes and relaxing in the shhade.
"Nothing really goes on here," says skater Chris Graft, a 19 year old from West Valley City who comes here to take advantage of what he says are better facilities. "The older skaters stay on the sidelines and don't bother anybody," he says. "We all learned our lesson when you guys closed it down."
Marquez chuckles and responds.
"Yea,” he says. “The mayor doesn't mess around. You obey the rules or we take the park back."
Fourteen year old Sam Smith and his buddies say they see crime happen about every week here at the skate park.
"I've seen fights. Sometimes people get mad when other people cut them off while they're skating."
Sandy's youth crime prevention initiative reaches far beyond this patrol. It is the only police department in Utah with a clinical therapist on staff to work with at-risk kids, even in this affluent community.
"Juvenile crime does not discriminate between socio-economic classes," says licensed therapist Michelle Swenson. "We have just as many young people at risk here than anywhere else."
