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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.

 

Stop Drug Abuse in Parks

Stop Drug Abuse in Parks

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As the opioid crisis continues to grow amidst the pandemic, ongoing addictions are nurtured, and drug dealers’ wallets get fatter while they sling dope within the parks and recreational borders. This usually happens right under the nose of the public eye.  Oftentimes this is the case even in broad daylight, as it is the illegal dealer’s career to be the master of behavioral disguise. Of course, if the park visitor does not even notice the drug-deals taking place, then they will not report it.

This leads to a vicious cycle, as the devoted addict is so eager to get their fix. They find a comfortable spot and end up shooting up right there while still in the park. What the park ends up with is a hoard of sold souls overdosing across its premises. Allowing this tricky situation to continue clearly does not help, but it contributes to, the opioid crisis.

It is a plausible idea to add more park surveillance. However, round-the-clock surveillance can swiftly get expensive. We must at the same time remember how surveying all the drug crimes within the park does not prevent them from happening.

Prosecutions are a whole lot more difficult to prove as well when there is no clean-cut evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. The criminal must be caught in the act in order to face genuine scrutiny. All these factors are important for Parks & Recreation Departments to think about when planning crime reduction strategies.

The solution then does not lie on focusing in on monitoring each drug abuser that visits the park, but instead on preventing the drug deals from taking place in the parks. There is tool designed to deter nuisance crimes in parks, including drug deals and abuse.

We all have a part to play. Parks and Recreation can do something about the substance abuse crisis, especially if there is a means to deter drug crimes in the parks. Before long, the bad guys will be running speedily away from the park as soon as they enter!

What is Parks Department doing to stop the drug crisis happening in your parks?