Local officials and concerned citizens toured one of Redding’s problem areas Wednesday morning. Redding Police Lieutenant Pete Brindley and Sergeant Danny Smetak addressed those gathered to walk through the Henderson Open Space, south of the Cypress Avenue Bridge. The area has generated many complaints of illegal camping, drug use and trash. Brindley pointed out that this area has been a concern for many years. Redding Police have instituted sweeps of the area every 2 to 3 months, evicting illegal campers and cleaning up the area, but the same people return shortly thereafter. The situation may be improved when Dignity Health builds a new facility on the north side of the area. In addition, the new hires by the Redding Fire Department will be clearing brush on the city-owned south side to reduce fire danger. Lieutenant Brindley expects this to make the area more open, with fewer places for illegal campers to hide. Sergeant Smetak said that although the neighborhood police unit provides the people they deal with information on available resources to help them, many aren’t interested. In addition to the police officers and citizens, local officials attending included supervisors Les Baugh and Joe Chimenti and city council member Michael Daquisto.