Phoenix tries cameras, better lighting and a hotline to improve park safety
Phoenix plans to add a public hotline for people to report suspicious activity at city parks, among other efforts to improve security.
Since June, Phoenix has averaged two dead bodies a month found in city parks. At least one was a homicide, some causes are still unknown and others are connected to drug use.
Councilman Jim Waring said no one should be in city parks after hours, mostly between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“You’re probably not doing something that's harmless and just letting you do more of it is a really bad idea that’s expensive for taxpayers and can be traumatic if they have to find a dead body,” he said. “Plus, it’s dangerous for you because you’re out there isolated. If we didn’t have the park ranger program, more people would've died than actually did."
During Wednesday's presentation to a council subcommittee, Parks Director Cynthia Aguilar did not have a specific number for how many times rangers called emergency services on suspected overdoses or other medical issues, but private security reported calling EMS 41 times and police 103 times between February 2023 and February 2024.
Unarmed private security have made contact with more than 16,000 people in the last year, often for drug activity and loitering. Phoenix added city rangers to overnight patrols last fall.
“Our staff can definitely verify that when they arrive in the morning, when they first start at 5:30 or 6 a.m., they are not finding the incidents of vandalism that they were accustomed to finding,” Aguila said. “Typical vandalism that we were experiencing were broken sprinkler heads, broken lights, copper wire theft. They’re also finding less drug paraphernalia and trash in these parks. We do know that is one of the many benefits of services and rangers.”
This summer, Phoenix expects to launch a 24/7 hotline people can call so park rangers can prioritize and respond in real time. Improved communication between residents and rangers has been a priority for certain neighborhoods.
Aguilar said the department’s next unarmed security contract will likely be awarded to Windom Security Strategies, which requires more training hours for employees and does not charge clients extra for body worn cameras.
Parks staff recently installed temporary security cameras at Cortez and Perry Parks to “help deter ongoing negative activities in those parks." The mobile, solar-powered cameras provide 360-degree coverage with 24-hour recording and storage capacity for 15 days.
Aguilar said the department is also evaluating parks for possible environmental design improvements, like better lighting and walkways, enhanced landscapes and activating parks.
As of early March, Phoenix had 42 full-time rangers covering 186 flatland parks with 10 more positions expected to be filled in the coming weeks.
