The Sacramento Police Department has declared war on "cruising," or the practice of seeking anonymous gay trysts in public areas, and police officers are going online to locate offenders.

Cruising has been a mainstay at many Sacramento area parks, according to law enforcement officials and Web sites dedicated to the practice, and among the most popular is Tempo Park.

The crackdown on cruising comes with the Citrus Heights Police Department's pledge to focus on blight crimes throughout the city, the Sacramento Bee reports.

"Certain things cross a line," said police Commander Mark Boettger. "It affects places where children and families should be able to go without fear or concern of finding a needle or a finding a condom."

Boettger said his department received complaints about cruising in many of the city's parks before sting operations were started.

Many Web sites dedicated to cruising have Citrus Heights parks listed and rated.

One such site lists Tempo Park as a "nice little cruising park with cover for activity."

On the site, users can post messages warning others of police activity or recommending good times to go.

"This place is great, but only during the day," said one user in July. "The sport teams show up at around 3 p.m., and it isn't a good idea when they are there."

Police Sgt. Eric Dias leads a detail of officers tasked to eradicate the problem. His officers have worked undercover operations in various city parks.

He said his officers look to the Internet for clues as to which parks are hot. Information sometimes comes from people arrested during the decoy operations.

Detective Derek Stigerts is part of the Sacramento Police Department's vice unit.

Cruising, he said, is "hardly a priority for us at this point."

"We're more dealing with the victimization of juveniles and prostitution," he said. "But if we get complaints from people, we do go out and enforce it."

He said Del Paso Park and the park at North 10th and Vine streets have been major cruising areas for as long as he can remember.

"I've been a cop for 17 years, and it's been the same," he said. Men who cruise for sex are often "people having issues with their sexuality. They're in a situation where they can't openly live their lifestyle, and they think the best way to do it is out where no one will know them or see them."

Last update: 01-17-2008 22:48