Once an arrest was made, the offender was taken to the Salt Lake Police Department's Pioneer Precinct, near 1000 South and 700 West, where a special room was set up for immediate booking. Those arrested had mug shots and fingerprints taken. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a table set up to deal with undocumented offenders, while Adult Probation and Parole had an agent on hand to deal with prisoners with outstanding warrants.

A total of 946 arrests were made citywide during the six-day period. More than 70 percent of all city arrests during that time period came from the targeted zone around Pioneer Park — an area that represented less than 1 percent of the city, according to police.

The drug arrests during those six days represented 8 percent to 10 percent of the drug arrests for the city for the entire year, Burbank said.

What made this operation more successful than others, however, was having the additional presence of AP&P and ICE. Nearly 180 of the people arrested already had outstanding warrants, according to police statistics.

A total of 68 people had federal holds placed on them for being undocumented aliens. The majority of people arrested already had been arrested in other states for drug-related offenses, and most had been in Utah less than four years, Burbank said.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder praised the city for its efforts, then took a shot at the Salt Lake County Council, which on Tuesday rejected his $5.9 million budget request to reopen the Oxbow Jail. Without a place to hold offenders, Winder said operations like the one the city conducted "will have limited impact."

"They're not in jail long enough to have warrants processed," he said.

Winder called on the council and Salt Lake County mayor to put more funding into jail space, saying alternatives to incarceration don't always work.

"Sometimes (jail) is the necessary answer to combat this type of activity," he said.

Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill agreed that if incarceration is not an option, law enforcers lose their "credible threat."

"We will have no deterrent," he said.

Burbank said that, as of Wednesday, 68 percent of the people arrested last week were still in jail.

Gill said that, in addition to law enforcement, more funding was needed for drug programs to get offenders into rehabilitation.

"We shouldn't settle for moving the problem from one neighborhood to another," Gill said.

Some local residents and business owners attended Wednesday's news conference to show support for the police department's efforts and to encourage the media to also cover more positive events associated with the park.

Whether the increased police presence actually drives drug dealers and sellers away isn't the main point, according to residents.

"The difference is the hope we have in the neighborhood, knowing police have reinvested in the neighborhood," said resident Christian Harrison.

Rather than being frustrated, Harrison said residents are now hopeful. The next step, he said, is to get more residents out of their homes and using the park. Even Burbank noted that if the park went unused, less desirable elements would use the space.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com