Chicago Volunteers Patrol City Parks

Garfield Park is surrounded by some of the city’s meanest streets, and sending four unofficial rangers to patrol the gang-infested area on expensive bicycles is what some are calling a tragedy waiting to happen.

“There’s less crime in the park than in the neighborhoods around it--that’s the good news,” said police Sgt. John Rooney, a member of the violent crimes unit. “The bad news is that I wouldn’t advise anybody--ranger or not--to ride through Garfield Park on a $700 bicycle. The idea doesn’t exactly strike me as a brainstorm.”

The Rangers in the Parks program, as conceived by city parks officials, was to be a network of hundreds of volunteers and off-duty police officers on horseback and all-terrain vehicles crisscrossing the city’s parks--good-will ambassadors backed by police powers and a $90,000 budget.

Reduced Pilot Program

What it became after budget cuts was a $12,000 pilot program in Garfield Park.

“We first envisioned this with rangers in 12 parks, guides for tourists in the lakefront parks . . . promoting our programs and teaching appreciation for the history and beauty of the parks--at one point, even an eyes-and-ears-of-the-police kind of thing,” said Jim Albritton, the Park District supervisor in charge of the program.

The first element cut from the Rangers program was any kind of law-enforcement role.

Though they carry two-way radios and are in touch with Park District supervisors--who in turn can call police--the rangers will have “very limited roles as peacekeepers,” Albritton said.

“The idea is build good-will in the park, not break up fights. To make friends with the kids, report equipment that needs fixing, nudge people to clean up after themselves, keep an eye peeled for emergencies.

“But whether they should call in if they see a drug buy, for instance, that’s a very touchy question,” Albritton said. “We’re still working on those questions.”

Answers Needed

Rooney said Park District officials had better come up with the answers quickly.

“There are a few gangs and lots of dope being sold in some parts of the park,” he said. “There’s potential for trouble if they get mixed up in that.”

Freda Collins, a former speech pathologist and construction worker who is the lone woman on the crew, said she believes her job is to be visible, “to encourage people to bring their kids and their picnic baskets back to the park.”

Each ranger receives an 18-speed trail bike, a uniform and three days of training. They work eight hours each day from June until early September, earning $6 an hour.

Collins’ colleagues are fourth-grade teacher Isaac Battle, former military policeman Donnell Daniel and former marketing executive Randis Clark.

“We’re not so much worried about the danger; we all live in the area and know what goes down,” she said. “That’s what the police are for.”