Editorial: Increase safety at our parks

Thursday, Aug. 3, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

Parks are supposed to be a place where residents can get away for awhile, whether it's playing softball or relaxing with their families on a weekend afternoon. But as the Sun's Adrienne Packer reported Tuesday, a park in northeast Clark County virtually has been deserted since it opened in May. The reason for the lack of park visitors is that a gun battle between gang members one week after the Alexander Villas park opened has resulted in children being afraid to play there.

In response to residents who fear using Alexander Villas and other parks, the Clark County Commission on Tuesday created a task force to address the issue of safety in all county-operated parks. The task force, which is made up of county, police and school officials, is supposed to report its findings within two months. One of the problems identified by the Parks and Recreation Department is that there are a limited number of park police officers. Currently there are just 19 officers to patrol 1,500 acres of county parks that are located throughout the Las Vegas Valley. It also shouldn't be forgotten that the valley's population has swelled in the past 10 years. This means that there are more people crowding our parks, which can create conflict and require officers to mediate disputes. In addition, some of the downsides associated with large metropolitan a reas, such as crime, may become more frequent in parks if it isn't checked immediately.

For starters, the county should work closely with Metro Police in devising an effective strategy. A short-term fix would be to concentrate additional park police in parks with more crime. But a long-term solution will have to address whether there's enough manpower, which could mean the county would have to find the money to pay for more park police to provide secure and safe parks. Otherwise, what's the use of spending taxpayer money on building these new parks if they're so dangerous that residents are afraid to venture out and enjoy them.