St. George Crackin' Down on Public Sex

[TheSizzle36]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=397534

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Police are pledging to crack down on public sex and cruising in city parks after making their first-ever Tonaquint Park lewdness bust.

A 54-year-old St. George man and a 53-year-old Springville man were arrested Saturday afternoon and charged with lewdness in a public park.

Police Sgt. Craig Harding said officers patrolling the park heard noise coming from the restroom and from outside were able to see one man touch the other in a sexual manner.

"Any kid could have been exposed to this kind of activity, which is outrageous," Harding said.

The park purportedly has gained a reputation as a cruising spot for men to hook up.

"We heard there was possibly some gay stuff going on, and I have my officers patrol that area," Lt. Dave Moss said. "If there's people down there trying to hook up, they usually leave and go somewhere else."

Harding said, "We're going to cruise it more. We're going to work it undercover and try to stamp this out."

Leland Young, a gay community activist in St. George, said the community does not want people to behave badly in a park, but some fear the police will go beyond cracking down on public sex.

"There's been harassment on some levels. They're not going up to the heterosexual community and saying, 'What are you doing in the park?"' Young said.

Police denied targeting people for being gay.

"We can't target people. We can't target groups. We can't target cultures, but we can target criminal behavior," Harding said.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

This article cracked me up. A few of my favorite lines: (especially the 'gay stuff' comment):
"We heard there was possibly some gay stuff going on, and I have my officers patrol that area," Lt. Dave Moss said. "If there's people down there trying to hook up, they usually leave and go somewhere else."

And then this gem:
"We're going to cruise it more. We're going to work it undercover and try to stamp this out."

How would you like that assignment. "Alright Fusnick, we're gonna need you to go undercover as a gay man to try and, uh, get to the bottom, of what's going on in St. George park. I know this assignment might be a bit of the pain in the ass... but we think that you are JUST the man for the job. Good luck."

And what's with the deal announcing they're going undercover in the first place? Yeah, we know that there are a lot of problems in the park, so we're going to go undercover... announcing this on the news won't arise any suspicion at all...

[UteStar]

It has been a while since I heard someone say something to the effect of, "We heard that there was some gay stuff going on." That is a truly classic line. I can just hear the comment if it was a guy and woman getting it on, 'We heard that there was some straight heterosexual stuff going on.' Anyway, thanks for the laugh.

[MikeWaters]

not to mention I wouldn't have used the word "cruising" to describe police activities.

[ute4ever]

Sorry but my all-time favorite headline from The Salt Lake Tribune was in 1996:

Something Stinks in Beaver

I faxed it to Jay Leno but it never made the cut.

[SoCalCoug]

Originally Posted by TheSizzle36

And then this gem:
"We're going to cruise it more. We're going to work it undercover and try to stamp this out."

How would you like that assignment. "Alright Fusnick, we're gonna need you to go undercover as a gay man to try and, uh, get to the bottom, of what's going on in St. George park. I know this assignment might be a bit of the pain in the ass... but we think that you are JUST the man for the job. Good luck."

My cousin has done that - he was a cop in Provo, and he's told me about times he went undercover in the park wearing bicycle shorts, waiting to be propositioned.

[MikeWaters]

it's against the law to proposition someone? or just to carry out the act in the park?

[TheSizzle36]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

it's against the law to proposition someone? or just to carry out the act in the park?

I hope you're not getting any ideas here mike...

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

it's against the law to proposition someone? or just to carry out the act in the park?

I think that the propositioning will get one the lewd conduct citation. Remember George Michael got busted for that in an LA park?

[El Guapo]

Originally Posted by TheSizzle36

"We heard there was possibly some gay stuff going on, and I have my officers patrol that area,"

Exactly WHAT area are his officers patrolling? This sounds anatomical.

Originally Posted by TheSizzle36

And then this gem:
We're going to work it undercover

This is my favorite line! We are going to work it! It makes you wonder if he meant undercover or under covers.