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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.

 

Stopping Vandalism and Juvenile Crime-Parks

Stopping Vandalism and Juvenile Crime-Parks

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It is difficult to stop vandalism and juvenile crime at parks. Scribbles in permanent ink marking a territory. At the favorite place to ride… a vulgar image done with a can of spray paint that can be seen from outer space. Nasty words written inside a slide tunnel at a children’s playground. This is known as graffiti, and it is prevalent amongst our youth.

Maybe there’s that one kid that is actually a fantastic artist but doesn’t have anywhere else to vent their decorative literacy. Sometimes it’s because they don’t feel socially accepted anywhere, so they play school hooky and ride their bike to the local skatepark for the soul purpose of finding a solitary place to do what they want. Sometimes it is not for the purpose of being a loner, so they recruit a couple friends to follow suit. Maybe some creative kid is truly, deeply angry at another kid, or maybe they’re just an angry individual due to a youth mental-illness or for other reasons.

Regardless of the individual and underdeveloped reasoning behind a child’s poor decision to vandalize… it’s a well-known fact that kid’s copy other kids. And whomever, or sometimes whatever, is their strongest influence you can bet they will take it on and add it to their collection of role models. It’s a pattern we see in all youth, including and sometimes especially in teens. Unfortunately, Youth Incarceration is currently very high in the United States. It really, truly does not have to be this way. Although it is one great thing to have a Juvenile Detention Reform, that is a big responsibility to take on and one must know what they’re doing in order to truly help reform the youth vandal. One place to start is by cleaning up the child’s playground environment, so that another kid is not influenced by their unique form of talents that should be better displayed elsewhere. Clean recreation areas are known to have healthier impacts on our kids.

However, cleaning up the same old illicit scribbles over and over can get old quickly, not to mention expensive. Instead, the Park Director should focus more on Graffiti Deterrence and Vandalism Prevention, rather than on the energy spent painting over the same wall time and time again. That energy and extra finances could be better spent on helping our juveniles become better adults. And maybe, those kids will turn around to be the best graffiti prevention out of them all!

What is your park doing to prevent vandalism?

Social Media-Fight Against Park Vandalism

Social Media-Fight Against Park Vandalism

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In this day and age, where we are more connected than ever through social media, it is a wonder that more people have not utilized social media to fight crime, especially the more elusive ones like vandalism. Vandals love to operate after hours when no one is around so that they can commit their crimes with relative anonymity. This practice makes it incredibly difficult to catch vandals, however they do often leave behind audacious clues which can lead to their arrest. Leaving behind such incriminating clues is all due to the vandals’ egos.

Many criminals, including vandals, foolishly leave hints of their illegal activities on social media. You see, vandalism is often a highly visible crime like graffiti that is committed because vandals want to be recognized for their boldness and ferocity. Nevertheless, vandals still want to remain relatively anonymous so that they can avoid the legal repercussions of their actions. So, vandals will often leave pictures of themselves at the crime scene on their private social media page like Facebook. Vandals think that since their pages are private, that no one who would turn them in can see the incriminating evidence they post. Nevertheless, police have picked up on this trend and used the photos and other posts of vandals on social media to find and arrest them.

If you see any suspicious photos or comments on social media of friends or friends of friends, you can join the fight against vandalism.

Because we cannot always count on vandals to make sloppy mistakes, parks need other sure means of identifying and prosecuting criminals.  Parks suffering from vandalism and graffiti should use Park Vandalism Cameras, which are specially designed to identify a face or other unique feature like a tattoo, even in complete darkness.

#stopvandals #novandalism #playfair #publicworks

Protecting Park Assets

Protecting Park Assets

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During the park closures back in 2020, we all learned that parks are essential to the health and wellbeing of the community, and the assets of a park provided need to be protected.

Unfortunately, there have been many incidents of vandalism, metal theft, and graffiti at are beloved parks.  To our greatest surprise are the occurrences within our historic parks and natural beauties.  It is hard to understand the person who would commit such a hideous crime.  Whether it’s youthful ignorance or anger directed at society, it is a very sad crime that affects our entire nation.

The vandalism that occurs at the local park is also sad.  Children come to play on the swing set or the slide, only to find it is not available due to vandalism.  Youth feel depression and unsafe when they discover their skate park has been defaced with graffiti.  And the football game will not happen because some culprit stole the wiring out of the lights.

All these tragic events occur very often.

Protecting Park property is more than surveillance.  Surveillance has its benefits, but it does not deter. Therefore, the park equipment such as field lights, bathrooms, playground equipment, and pavilions are destroyed and must be repaired or replaced.

This is very heartbreaking to the park visitors but also to the park rangers and recreation supervisors.  Because the park is created by their hard work and dedication, the destruction of the park is a blow to their heart.

Protecting Park resources are easier than you may believe.  There is a Park Vandalism Camera, specifically designed to stop vandals and other nuisance crime perpetrators before they strike.

What is your community doing to stop park vandalism and protect your park?