By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
There will be even more law
enforcement on hand to assist in keeping law-breakers from
ruining the Easter holiday for families who choose to
recreate at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes Recreation Site in
west Juab County.
"We expect more than 30,000
people at the Sand Dunes and another 50,000 who will be
located at various recreation sites throughout the county
this Easter," said Juab County Sheriff David
Carter.
As a result of the expected
crowds, Carter hosted an inter-agency meeting Monday, Apr.
9, at the Juab County Public Safety building in
Nephi.
"More different agencies will be
assisting this year than have ever worked with us before,"
he said. "I am pleased about the cooperation we are
receiving from state agencies and the Utah Highway Patrol
this year."
Carter said that Scott Duncan,
who worked as a Trooper in the Nephi area years ago, was the
new UHP colonel. "He is interested in cooperating and wants
the agencies to work together."
The meeting held at the public
safety building was helpful in getting all the kinks worked
out in advance, he said, so that the various agencies each
understood their part in the law enforcement
goal.
"We all met in a planning
session. This year I asked for every kind of help I could
get."
It was decided that there will be
six extra Utah Highway Patrol officers who will assist at
the Dunes throughout the holiday. There will also be six
agents with the Department of Liquor Law, eight officers
with the state Motor Vehicle Department, three officers from
the Nephi City Police Department.
Eight of his deputies and four to
six Juab County Search and Rescue Sheriff's Unit members
will be on-hand each shift.
Deputies from Millard County will
also be available to help if they are needed.
"I will have eight deputies and
myself on duty," he said. "We will also have a UHP airplane
available to us to use if we need to locate someone or to
use to spot trouble areas from the sky."
Those who responded and attended
the 10 a.m. meeting were: Sgt. Doug Rawlinson and Lt. Mitch
Ingersol, both with the Juab County area Utah Highway
Patrol; Ken Pay, Margaret Hardy, Lee Perry, all with the
Public Safety Department of Liquor Law; Neal Scorsby, Ranger
with the Bureau of Land Management; Stephen Biggs, Utah
Highway Patrol Aero Bureau; Kathy Johnson, Richfield
Department of Public Safety; Chad Bowles, Nephi City Police
Chief; Sgt. Terrance Parkin, Juab County Deputy Sheriff who
is the communications director, and Carter.
Excused because of training
commitments were representatives of the Utah State Motor
Vehicle Division.
The UHP dispatch office in Salt
Lake City is in the process of switching over all of their
equipment to a new system, said Carter. For that reason they
will not be as available to assist.
"Johnson welcomed us to use
Richfield Dispatch," Carter said. "If we have an overflow,
because our dispatchers get too busy, then Richfield
dispatchers will step in and assist us."
The Juab County Sheriff's Office
dispatchers will take care of most of the calls coming to
the center and will perform license checks via computer as
they normally do. In cases of overload, however, the
Richfield office will be there to assist.
The contact point will continue
to be the visitors center at the Sand Dunes, said Carter.
Juab County Ambulance Association Emergency Medical
Technician crews will be stationed at the site around the
clock, as they have been in year's past.
One thing that will be different
this year, he said, is that there will no longer be a
communications center located at the site.
"With the new repeater located on
Levan Peak, communications works well by working directly
with our dispatch communications at the jail," he said. That
an the use of cell phones had effectively eliminated the
dead spot that used to occur when information was
relayed.
The improvement in communications
frees more search and rescue team members to work on site
rather than being required to stay inside the office to man
the radios.
Another improvement will be a
medavac helicopter that will be stationed at the scene. The
helicopter, belonging to a medical services company, will
work through the Juab Ambulance Association and will be
contacted by the EMTs and the officer on the site of any
accident.
If the helicopter is needed, it
will be on-site and will no longer have to be summoned from
Utah or Salt lake Counties.
"I am just determined that the
wild parties and big groups will not ruin the holiday for
those attending the Dunes this weekend," said Carter. "Each
year, for the past several years, the crowds have become
more unruly."
There was a time, said Carter,
when the crowds at the Dunes reached more than 60,000 during
Spring break each Easter time. During the late 70s, the huge
crowds were loud, disorderly and wild.
After those hectic years of
giant-sized crowds, the Sheriff's Office gradually gained
the upper-hand. However, the last few years, the number of
people visiting the Sand Dunes had begun to increase. With
that increase, he said, the problems had begun to escalate
once again.
As the crowds grew more rowdy the
more the family camper had this time at the recreation site
spoiled. If the problem is allowed to continue unchecked,
then the whole site becomes one uncivilized
party.
"Until just a few years ago, we
had the same problem during Memorial weekend at Yuba Lake,"
said Carter. "We were finally forced to close down Yuba and
we now have a low number of visitors who use Yuba on that
holiday."
The closure occurred because, no
matter how hard the Sheriff's Office officers and other law
enforcement officers worked, the crowd refused to be managed
and too many people crowded into too little
space.
Now there are camping spots
available at Yuba but those areas must be reserved and once
they are gone, no more people are allowed.
"I am determined to control the
crowds at the Dunes so that the site will remain a place
families like to visit and where they can have a good, safe
time," he said.
"We will also have an extra man
on duty at the Juab County Public Safety Building (at the
jail)," said Carter. "We expect with as many officers as we
have working, the jail will be quite busy."
The officers from Nephi will have
the same authority to act at the Sand Dunes as any of the
deputies. Because of the interlocal agreement between Juab
County and Nephi City law enforcement departments, officers
from either office can assist in either capacity as they are
requested by the lead agency.
Carter said statistics were
reviewed for fatalities which had occurred in the past.
Weather, number of people at the site, and all other factors
which might affect the number of accidents, were
considered.
"None of the statistics come
together with any rhyme or reason," said Carter.
One factor did come into play, it
seems that some times people are irresponsible on the
machines they are driving for the conditions they are in at
the time. Sometimes the driver assumes something that is not
so. It is largely the human factor that makes the
difference.
Those visiting Little Sahara need
to remember sand shifts and terrain may not be the same the
third time the driver goes over the back of the hill as it
was the first two times.
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