WASHINGTON — After a series of run-ins with teenagers and others abusing Scott’s Run Nature Preserve in Fairfax County, the police are getting more involved.

Over the past few years, an area of the park along the Potomac River has become a very popular party site, according to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Teenagers and others routinely refuse to obey site rules, damage natural resources, refuse to follow staff direction, produce piles of trash and endanger themselves and others, said Sara Baldwin, deputy director of the Park Authority.

The problem has become so bad, Baldwin said, that the Fairfax County Police Department will be patrolling the area on a more regular basis.

In addition, officers will enforce the no-swimming rule and crack down on any illegal drinking, said police Lt. Jason Allegra.

The Park Authority added that a lot of runoff water that includes human and animal feces flows into the Potomac River near Scott’s Run, making the area an unsafe and unhealthy place to swim.