Salt Lake City police gathered gang information, made several prostitution busts, and netted 23 felony arrests in a broad, three-day public safety push in Glendale.

Chief Chris Burbank said in a news release his department chose Glendale for a "Neighborhood Operation," or coordinated response designed to act on crime trends reported by the community and officers.

Police plan to use the geographically-focused enforcement model for similar blitzes in other neighborhoods, said Detective Dennis McGowan.

"We learned a lot from this operation that will serve us well as we continue to work with other neighborhoods to address crime and public order issues in the future," Burbank said.

Officers made 23 felony and 28 misdemeanor arrests from Thursday to Saturday in an array of investigations, according to the release. The investigations were planned during the past two months with information from community council meetings, the Salt Lake City mayor's office and the police drug hot line.

The enforcement push focused on the area from North Temple to 2100 South and from Interstate 15 to Redwood Road.

Among the felony arrests were five people who are suspected of violent crimes.

Officers also created 27 "gang cards" -- information collected from suspected gang members in voluntary interviews, McGowan said. The interviewees provided identifying information, including descriptions of their tattoos.

Sex solicitation

The majority of those caught in the sweep were targeted for traffic offenses. Officers recovered one stolen car and spotted one stolen license plate by scanning more than 4,000 plate numbers.

Violent crime linked to gang activity during the summer in Glendale had been the focus of recent community meetings with both residents and police.