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Keeping Crime Out of the Parks

Keeping Crime Out of the Parks

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Keeping crime out of the parks has been a struggle for many communities.  Crimes in the parks consists of graffiti, vandalism, drugs, illegal dumping, and gang violence.  When crime in the park occurs, the attendees begin to draw away feeling the park is no longer safe.  When violence and unruliness take over, the crime spreads to the neighborhood and continues to grow.

An unsafe park creates an unsafe community for families and businesses.  Unfortunately, unsafe neighborhoods statistically cause lower property values, which causes even more harm to the community.  Everybody knows how beneficial a safe park, easy to access and enjoy, is to the community.

In order to keep crime out of the park, the community must come together and fight off the crime that plagues the park.  Back in the 80’s, “Take Back the Park” began.  A solution to take back the control of the recreational space by providing youth leadership and activities that include crime prevention training.  The impact of the program was encouraging.  15 parks participated where summer programs bloomed.

This is still important today.  Tragically,  Clairemont Community experienced a park shooting around noon while kids were playing.  The community then hosted a Take Back the Park Event to bring change to the neighborhood.   It needs to be noted that taking back a park is not easy and does not happen overnight. To see a change the program must continue, and the community must be involved.

Perpetrators visually need to see the community cares for the park.  Here is a checklist at a minimum that must be implemented to change the atmosphere of the park from neglected to loved.

  • Remove Graffiti
  • Repair Vandalized Equipment and Structures
  • Install Park Crime Deterrent Systems
  • Increase the Lighting
  • Provide Activities for the Whole Community
  • Increase the Presence of Site Managers and Police

Remove all signs of neglect like graffiti and vandalism immediately, as this attracts more serious crimes. Make sure the activities are enticing to the whole community, because the presence of people discourages most possible crimes. Make sure your parks department is equipped with the right tools to fight park crime.  Traditional cameras do not deter crime; therefore, Park Crime Deterrent Systems are needed.

Take back your park and keep the crime out!

Tools to Protect Parks

Tools to Protect Parks

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Do you have the tools to protect your park?

Parks face daunting threats of vandalism, graffiti, and theft.  Most parks have security in place but is it enough and is the security chosen protecting your park?  Everybody likes a nice shiny new tool with the bells and whistles, but not all tools can be used for all jobs.  Tools are made specifically for a certain job. Security at your park should be the same.

Everyone knows a community needs a safe accessible park for the well-being of the children and adults alike.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of obstacles to keep the parks safe.  The National Recreation and Park Association, NRPA, does a great job in researching the planning of safe parks and supplies great tools for Park Administrators.  But safe parks don’t come easily. The safety of the park is the responsibility of the park administrators, the law enforcement, and citizens themselves.  It takes all involved to create a healthy community.

Besides, adequate lighting, activities that involve the community, and site managers to oversee, every park should have surveillance in place.  Traditional surveillance has it value and is needed but it is not designed to stop vandalism and graffiti.  Park Vandalism Cameras, specifically designed to stop quality of life crimes in parks is needed.

As you plan your park and get ready for the opening season, make sure you have the right tools to protect the park you pour your sweat and life into.

End Park Vandalism

End Park Vandalism

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Park Vandalism is a costly problem in the United States affecting all communities and the number of incidents is increasing every year. Vandalism, an old term from the 1700s during the French Revolution, is still happening today.  Sometimes it is affiliated with protests, unrest, and angry mobsters, but predominately it occurs at parks by youth who are bored or up to mischief. Ending park vandalism is difficult.

Parks are prime targets due to remote areas that are left unprotected.  Installing lighting and hiring around the clock security is costly and not practical.  To end park vandalism, some parks have installed traditional camera systems which incur costs for wiring power and making sure there is an adequate light source when it becomes dark, when most vandalism occurs. Although cost is a big factor in installing traditional surveillance, cost is not the only problem traditional surveillance brings to the table.  Typical video surveillance cannot produce quality images for prosecution and has shown to provide little to no deterrence in stopping vandalism.

In order to protect the new playground equipment, pavilion, and skate park, a Vandalism Prevention Program must be implemented.

A Vandalism Prevention Program includes:

Park Vandalism Deterrent Systems are completely self-contained, have their own power source and lighting.  They are specifically designed to stop unwanted activity in parks, such as vandalism.  They can be used anywhere, especially remote areas that are hard to monitor.

As the quality-of-life crimes increase, it is more important than ever that your parks’ department is equipped with the right tools to combat these nuisance crimes.

What is your park doing to end park vandalism?

#Saveourparks #novandalism #ParksandRec

Safe Parks-Crime Deterrent Program

Safe Parks-Crime Deterrent Program

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Now in post pandemic times, people have learned, health is more important than ever. When the immune system is down, it becomes difficult to fight off viruses and infections. When your body is not as prime as it could be, mental health also suffers. Mental and physical health are directly related: mental health impacts physical health and vice versa. More and more studies are coming out to show how important outdoor activity is.

 

Nature is imperative to our health. For example, we need vitamin D for both our physical and emotional health. Historically, the public park was created with mental health in mind. Parks encourage physical activity and people who live close to parks are more prone to use them for exercise. Without scenic recreational areas, people are more likely to suffer from obesity and depression. Beauty is necessary for the public health.

 

We take nature and aesthetics for granted. We take advantage of pristine parks and do not think about the care and effort that is put into keeping it desirable to communities. We do not think about the communities that cannot afford to do what it takes to keep parks free of litter and vandalism. It takes work to keep parks aesthetically appealing and free from graffiti and vandalism.

 

Unfortunately, most parks suffer from illegal dumping, graffiti, vandalism, and other quality of life crimes. And quality of life crimes at parks make parks unsafe.  Therefore, people are not able to enjoy the benefits that a healthy park provides. Harming parks harms the entire community.

 

Traditional video surveillance does not stop quality of life crimes.  Therefore, Parks and Recreation Departments need to implement a Park Crime Deterrent Program utilizing specialized equipment designed to deter quality of life crimes.

 

We need to keep our parks clean and safe for our health and restore our communities to their original glory.