Request for Consideration of Increasing Park Ranger Presence at City Parks
Dear Mayor Garcia and City Council Members,
It is with hope and desire for increased public safety at our city parks that we submit this letter to you for consideration of reinstating a Citywide Park Ranger Program to the 2015 budget.
There are more than 100 parks in Long Beach and many of those parks are in desperate need of public safety.
If it is not possible to create a budget that allows for one or two additional full time park rangers, then the Neighborhood Associations would like to request that the city provide public safety support utilizing one or two of the three full time park rangers that are presently budgeted at El Dorado, to patrol the city parks that are struggling with public drug use and drug dealing "Hot Spots" and address these issues.
Public drug use and drug dealing has increased at our public parks over the past three years, since the Park Ranger program was canceled.
Burglary, grand theft and petty crimes are on the rise in our neighborhoods. Several neighborhood associations would like to see our city's police officers' time spent fighting crime on the streets and not in our parks. Often times, LBPD do not respond immediately to calls made by residents and park visitors pertaining to public drug use or suspicion of criminal activity.
The Neighborhood Associations of Long Beach would like to see a park ranger presence that is hyper-focused on parks that have public safety issues.
LBPD can confirm that the number of arrests at city public parks for intent to sell drugs is high. There are no volunteer positions or Rec Center staff programs that can resolve the criminal acts taking place at our public parks. East Division Commander William LeBaron once said that the problem of drug dealing at Bixby Park cannot be resolved by someone other than a trained professional officer. "These are some hardcore thugs," he said.
One example of this epidemic is last summer, five drug dealers were arrested at Bixby Park within a four-week period. This summer four drug dealers were arrested in a two-week period. Most drug-related arrests take place across the street from- or in close proximity to the children's playground.
At Bixby Park, it is not out of the ordinary to see teens and adults exhale "plumes" of pot smoke in public within feet of the playground area. There have been two separate incidents of a child picking up a hypodermic needle in the playground sandbox. On an ongoing basis, Friends of Bixby Park volunteers discard glass pipes, hypodermic needles, dime bags and burnt aluminum foil at its monthly park clean ups.
Several neighborhood associations in the city have a tale to tell about lack of public safety at their local parks, and how they are concerned about the impact it will have on youth in our communities. All of these incidents make residents and families feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Many parks have lost countless park users as a result of these activities, despite neighborhood groups' efforts to revitalize their parks.
Without public safety officer presence, illegal activities will continue to rise and have consequences on our community, including exposing young children and teens to drug use and drug dealing.
One of the greatest benefits a city can provide its community is safe and drug-free parks.
By increasing Park Ranger presence the city will be providing a safe environment for families and lower the incidents of children and teens being exposed to drug activities at our parks.
Less drugs in our parks equals less drugs on our streets and more safety in our neighborhoods. A Park Ranger Program will provide the kind of public safety that will have a lasting effect on our community now and in the future.
Your neighborhood associations,...
