Stopping Park Vandalism

Catching and Stopping Park Vandalism

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Catching and stopping park vandalism is necessary.

Park Vandalism is a nonsense crime that affects the community and should be addressed.  The question to contemplate is how to effectively protect the park from further attacks.

In today’s social climate, most parks have surveillance of some sort. Surveillance has its role and is needed for various reasons; however, it has shown that it is not very effective against park vandalism.

Parks are a vital contributor to the wellbeing of the community.  Unfortunately, parks are a magnet to vandalism. Vandalism in parks can take the form of destruction of bathrooms, pavilions, or playground equipment.  Vandalism can also come in the form of graffiti or metal theft. Park Vandalism is very costly to the community.  According to the National Parks Service, park vandalism can even be “looting” such as when looters attempted to etch around a pictograph to remove it from the rock.

Vandalism is Costly to the community.

El Paso alone reported vandalism repairs over a period of two years cost them over $250,000.  The question to ask, “Is catching the malicious damage makers going to stop the problem or will this be repeated?”  Unfortunately, park vandalism is costly, therefore, it is better to stop park vandalism rather than just catch the perpetrators.

To stop park vandalism, each park system must have a Park Vandalism Deterrence Program.

A Successful Park Vandalism Deterrence Program:

  • Involves the Community
    • Outreach programs
    • Recreation for all ages
    • Walking trails
    • Night activities
  • Keeps the Park Enticing
    • Adequate lighting
    • Safe on all levels
    • Stable, well-kept playgrounds
    • No graffiti
    • No broken bathrooms
    • No broken pavilions or park benches
  • Keeps the Park Safe
    • Available Park Administrators on site
    • Install Park Vandalism Deterrence Cameras – Specifically designed to stop park vandalism
    • Quickly repair and clean up services in place
    • Quickly remove all signs of neglect

Don’t just work at catching but also Stopping Park Vandalism before it happens!