County appoints task force on park safety

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

Less than a week after northeast residents celebrated the opening of their newest park, neighborhood children were afraid to play in it.

A gun battle between gang members in May left the Alexander Villas park desolate, prompting Clark County officials to explore more effective ways to protect their parks.

"Here we had a brand new park that we spent over a million dollars upgrading and refurbishing, and the people in the neighborhood couldn't even use it," said Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, whose district includes the park. "There was an outcry from the public to make the park safer."

A significant step to accomplish that goal was taken Tuesday.

Clark County commissioners appointed a six-member task force comprised of police, school and county officials to study existing and potential safety concerns in parks. The committee is expected to submit its findings and possible remedies to the board in two months.

The county spends $1.6 million each fiscal year on a team of 19 patrol officers who protect open space and parkland in unincorporated areas. But the feat is overwhelming considering those areas exceed 1,500 acres.

Glenn Trowbridge, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said one way to resolve safety concerns in parks is to add more officers to the team.

"We certainly need more officers," Trowbridge said of the program that was introduced in the county in early 1980s. "We might have one person on duty on an entire side of town."

The lack of park police doesn't only leave residents vulnerable; officers are also at risk. Park users might seem like an affable bunch, but that isn't always the case, Trowbridge said.

"It would be nice to know when you're diffusing a situation with two angry baseball teams with 18 bats you have some backup," he said.

Atkinson Gates said one option that has been considered is merging the park safety patrol with Metro Police.

"That way you don't have two agencies providing safety to neighborhoods," Atkinson Gates said. "They're already working together, now they could work together under one umbrella."

The task force includes Metro Undersheriff Richard Winget, Jack Lazzarotta, a member of the Clark County School District's police unit, Wade Barnhart, with the county's park police, Trowbridge, County Finance Director George Stevens and Don Burnette with the county manager's office.