Anaheim : Council Acts to Beef Up Police Patrols in Parks
In an effort to curb crime in public parks, the City Council voted Tuesday to spend $7,000 for extra police patrols and the posting of no-liquor signs.
Several parks have been a crime problem for years, said Christopher K. Jarvi, director of the Parks Department. The police patrols will target the worst sites first, he said.
But City Manager William O. Talley said that some parks are known hangouts for homosexuals, drug dealers and the homeless and that law enforcement will be difficult.
“We all know that Pearson Park is a known designation for homosexual activity. That’s a police problem,” Talley said. “No matter how many park rangers you have patrolling, you aren’t going to change the visitors to the parks. This renders the city’s ability to deal with this very difficult.”
Isabel Lopez, a member of the St. Boniface Parish Community Organization, which sought more security in city parks, told the council, “we have senior citizens here who lock themselves in by 4:30 p.m. because they are afraid to use the parks.”
Next year, Jarvi said, the Parks Department will begin work on lighting improvements at several parks.
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