Politics
Area eyes safer parks
City officials will give some suggestions to the council Tuesday on how to address residents’ concerns.
By Jason Wells
CITY HALL — Northwest Glendale residents are frustrated over what they say has been slow progress in addressing long-term security concerns at Brand Park. Parks officials, meanwhile, are prepared to submit a report to the City Council on Tuesday outlining possible safety enhancements nearly a year after a drive-by shooting at the historic park sparked community uproar.
The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and City Council responded almost immediately to the outcry following the June 26, 2007, non-injury shooting inside the park, taking down the basketball hoops neighbors said attracted crime and pledging to develop a comprehensive security plan.
In the 10 months since then, the department has closed off one entrance to the park and stationed a guard at the other as an extra set of eyes, and has held a community input meeting on what nearby residents and park users would like to see changed at the park to make it safer.
But Tammi Relyea, who as a board member for the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn. has worked actively to facilitate progress on more permanent security upgrades, said residents are starting to get concerned about the amount of time it has taken to come up with any concrete proposal.
“I know they’re working really hard,” she said, “but we really haven’t gone any further than where we were last year. I think it is now a fair question to ask, ‘Why is it taking so long?’”
A survey taken at the Feb. 16 community input meeting at Brand Park found the vast majority of 88 respondents favored the installation of entry gates, a guard station, increased patrols and regulations and the use of security cameras, according to a city report.
George Chapjian, director of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, said his staff has been researching security options that could be applied to not just Brand Park, but other parks that have been problematic.
His department has held two other community input meetings for Griffith Manor and Carr parks and taken those findings into consideration as they worked with a security consultant to develop a list of potential physical alterations and high-tech surveillance.
“It really isn’t a simple solution,” he said.
Some steps have been taken, such as eliminating picnic facilities at Carr Park that residents said invited crime-minded park users, and in addition to a new traffic circulation pattern and guard, Public Works installed speed bumps at Brand Park, according to city reports.
Other measures, like additional police patrols, video surveillance, amended hours and more extensive physical changes, would require the City Council to strike a balance between cost, safety and the rights of others to use the facilities, parks officials said.
Depending on the type of video surveillance network, the city might have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in operational costs, and that doesn’t include the initial capital outlay to install the infrastructure, Chapjian said.
While the cost of a camera system that simply records, rather than one that is staffed and actively monitored, would be less, the city would still be required to buy servers capable of storing the image data for a year in compliance with state law, he added.
Other possibilities, such as entrance gates at Brand Park to prevent night trespassers, would cost about $60,000, he said.
“I think it’s just a matter at this point of what the council wants to do with it,” Chapjian said of the report, which includes a list of 14 possible security upgrades that could be applied to any of the city’s parks.
The City Council will take up the issue during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 613 E. Broadway.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and City Council responded almost immediately to the outcry following the June 26, 2007, non-injury shooting inside the park, taking down the basketball hoops neighbors said attracted crime and pledging to develop a comprehensive security plan.
In the 10 months since then, the department has closed off one entrance to the park and stationed a guard at the other as an extra set of eyes, and has held a community input meeting on what nearby residents and park users would like to see changed at the park to make it safer.
But Tammi Relyea, who as a board member for the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn. has worked actively to facilitate progress on more permanent security upgrades, said residents are starting to get concerned about the amount of time it has taken to come up with any concrete proposal.
“I know they’re working really hard,” she said, “but we really haven’t gone any further than where we were last year. I think it is now a fair question to ask, ‘Why is it taking so long?’”
A survey taken at the Feb. 16 community input meeting at Brand Park found the vast majority of 88 respondents favored the installation of entry gates, a guard station, increased patrols and regulations and the use of security cameras, according to a city report.
George Chapjian, director of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, said his staff has been researching security options that could be applied to not just Brand Park, but other parks that have been problematic.
His department has held two other community input meetings for Griffith Manor and Carr parks and taken those findings into consideration as they worked with a security consultant to develop a list of potential physical alterations and high-tech surveillance.
“It really isn’t a simple solution,” he said.
Some steps have been taken, such as eliminating picnic facilities at Carr Park that residents said invited crime-minded park users, and in addition to a new traffic circulation pattern and guard, Public Works installed speed bumps at Brand Park, according to city reports.
Other measures, like additional police patrols, video surveillance, amended hours and more extensive physical changes, would require the City Council to strike a balance between cost, safety and the rights of others to use the facilities, parks officials said.
Depending on the type of video surveillance network, the city might have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in operational costs, and that doesn’t include the initial capital outlay to install the infrastructure, Chapjian said.
While the cost of a camera system that simply records, rather than one that is staffed and actively monitored, would be less, the city would still be required to buy servers capable of storing the image data for a year in compliance with state law, he added.
Other possibilities, such as entrance gates at Brand Park to prevent night trespassers, would cost about $60,000, he said.
“I think it’s just a matter at this point of what the council wants to do with it,” Chapjian said of the report, which includes a list of 14 possible security upgrades that could be applied to any of the city’s parks.
The City Council will take up the issue during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 613 E. Broadway.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
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