“That cut was done with extreme regret. No police chief wants to scale back a program; however, the park patrol was the most recent program that had been implemented,” Lt. John Dilibert said.
With most of the onus of securing and locking bathrooms falling to a custodial contractor, Dilibert last week walked the City Council and Park, Recreation and Community Services Board through two decades of the program’s staffing model, from volunteers, to park rangers, to police officers.
Duties beginning this fiscal year have been shared by patrol officers paid overtime rates seven nights per week, effectively cutting the grant’s life span in half. The grant was supposed to have lasted through May 2011.
The $223,587 federal grant was to pay for data collection on felony and misdemeanor arrests, citations, field investigations, vandalism and graffiti. City officials intended to use the data to demonstrate the effectiveness of a dedicated, full-time park patrol service.
In October, the City Council approved the grant based on reports of increased problems associated with substance abuse, vandalism and gang activity, albeit not at 1990s levels, Dilibert said.
Reported incidents in city parks this year include an officer-involved shooting, attempted rape and dozens of misdemeanor arrests and citations, according to a police memo distributed to city and parks officials.
Program reductions in the face of an uptick in crime and the sluggish economy prompted park board Vice Chairman Steven Ferguson to shed light on the matter, arguing that if the council could spare $80,000 to extend the aquatics season and revive the roller hockey program, the city’s 45 public facilities, including 26 parks, should be kept secure at an estimated cost of $130,000 per officer.
“Our community has come to expect safe parks,” Ferguson said.
Councilman Dave Golonski agreed, adding that assigned sworn police officers to a park patrol would cut down on potential miscommunications with unarmed security.
But reinstating dedicated park patrol won’t come without sacrifices to other programs, said City Manager Mike Flad, adding that he was leery of examining one program without the context of the entire budget, particularly as his office anticipates additional cuts down the pike.
“I know we’re probably going to get midyear reports coming back on where we stand, and common sense tells me that I don’t see an abundance of money coming back,” Mayor Gary Bric said. “If anything we’re going to try just to squeeze by this year.”
