Rangers May Return Soon to City’s Parks

Park rangers could soon return to regular patrols after a three-year absence, city and police officials said Tuesday.

Police Chief David L. Snowden said the City Council may decide as early as Monday to reinstate the program.

Two nonsworn and unarmed officers would answer to the Police Department and patrol the city’s 26 parks in light pickup trucks, Snowden said.

“They’ll be there for information and help,” Snowden said. “In any type of an emergency, they’ll contact the Police Department by radio, and we’ll send somebody out.”

The program could start by Jan. 1 if the council approves the proposal, Snowden said.

Major Joe Erickson said the city had a patrol program until about three years ago, when a man sleeping in a park was run over accidentally by a ranger.

The injury and a desire for stepped-up patrols by sworn officers put the ranger program on hiatus, he said.

Though he has not reviewed the staff report, Erickson said, he tentatively supports the proposal to hire rangers.

“The basic premise is to give more patrolling presence to the parks,” he said.

Hiring two park officers would cost about $86,000 a year, said Donald Lamm, deputy city manger. Lamm said the officers would carry the rank of community services officer.

Their duties would include animal control, spotting crimes, checking sports permits and enforcing the city’s no-camping policy.

Lamm said city parks commissioners recommended in April that the ranger program be reinstated.