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Park Law Enforcement: In-House by Arthur A. Gill How safe is your park system? Can people use it worry-free from gangs, panhandlers or drug dealers? Are your voters and taxpaying constituents getting their money's worth or are they getting short-changed because of less than 100 percent availability due to personal safety concerns? Even if none of these scenarios fit your individual system, there are always variations that do; it comes with the territory. Why should you as a commissioner, CEO, administrator, manager or employee be concerned with the well-being of your patrons? "Duty of care" is the answer, and lawsuits are the result if it is neglected. When you invite (the public to use your facilities and resources you owe them a "duty of care" as a responsible public entity. You are responsible for visitor safety and protection in your programs, within your facilities and upon your lands. The question is, what good are parks if people are afraid to use them? Parks and preserves are only as good as people's perception that they are safe places to use. Never mind reality, public perception determines their reality when it comes to individual safety. If your system is perceived as being "unsafe," you are going to lose some legitimate users. Unfortunately, what you often get in return are the unsavory elements "taking over" the park. These disenfranchised park users will not support your next bond referendum when you ask for additional money to operate your system. In a system in which you must return to the electorate for your taxing authorization just to exist, commissioners and administrators do not view park law enforcement and public safety with indifference or as a necessary evil. They instead embrace the concept that by hiring full-time, professional park law enforcement practitioners to guide their visitor safety and protection services they are on the cutting edge of risk-management and asset protection. Too often elected boards and administrators are concerned only with today's "bottom line." They are willing to compromise their users' personal safety for the sake of the almighty "budget" dollar. They are "selling out" the public they were elected or appointed to serve. The electorate and/or the board of commission-

Park Law Enforcement: Contractual by Greg Petry Park districts strive to provide professional and efficient law enforcement services to the public. Contracting with a local law enforcement agency such as the local police department or the county sheriff's department to provide these services accomplishes this and is an excellent alternative to in-house enforcement. A local law enforcement agency can provide a wide variety of services to park districts. Perhaps the most common service is patrolling the park areas and facilities. These patrols may include general surveillance, building and vehicle checks, and hazard identification. Generally, a park district is interested in buying a scope of services that helps protect park patrons, and the physical resources of the park. This can be accomplished partially through sound park planning, maintenance and management. Criminal activity does occur in parks, however, and must be dealt with by park districts. Park district ranger or security programs that use full-time, part-time or seasonal personnel may not be effective in providing law enforcement service. These security programs function in a way similar to a police department, but may have only partial or no police powers. Problems arise when personnel with limited training and authority are confronted with situations for which they cannot exercise a full range of enforcement actions such as a pursuit, apprehension and arrest. A park district ranger or security program must function under federal, state, local, criminal and civil law. Park districts should not expose themselves to criminal and civil liability. If you operate an in-house ranger or security program, evaluate your operation for the possibility that civil rights violations could occur. Ask yourself: does the staff make arrests or searches; could one of your people be put in a situation where undue force was used; could one of your security personnel violate someone's constitutional rights? There are other problems with organizing, administering and supervising a stand-alone ranger or security program. The park district will be faced with additional burdens and challenges it may be unable to cope with administratively and financially. Advantages of contracting from a local law enforcement

Illinois Parks and Recreation

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September/October 1992

In-House Park Law Enforcement (continued) ers will have your board seat or resignation, after the successful multi-million dollar civil suit filed on behalf of the estate of the victim for negligence or willful and wanton misconduct that resulted from a sexual assault and homicide in your park. There are almost as many different ways to accomplish visitor and natural resource protection as there are agencies. But there is a common denominator among all of the safety and security function options. It deals with control and service and "getting your shoes dirty." It is the issue: primary vs. secondary employment. It is the issue because of the costs associated with full-time salaried personnel and benefits vs. part-time, hourly personnel, with little or no benefits. There are also contractual arrangements, with little or no overhead and benefits picked up by the local police or sheriff's department. All of which will change in the very near future, thanks to tax caps and proposed part-time law enforcement training requirements. As a result, the cost of part-time and contractual law enforcement services will go up. Let's hope a new mind-set and a return to full-time professional park law enforcement practitioners will evolve. More and more individuals are graduating from accredited colleges and universities every year with degrees in conservation and natural resources, with an emphasis in law enforcement. Similarly, the bag-and-stick man or "parkee" and the sweat-shirt and whistle "bean bagger" of the '60s and '70s had to battle public opinion to attain Certified Leisure Professional status. So, too, will the professional park law enforcement practitioner in the '90s. We are talking about an investment in the future by your leisure services agency. Start-up costs can be high, of course. One full-time, professional park law enforcement practitioner with salary and benefits, vehicle, radios, uniforms and hardware can easily reach $50,000. By sharing the vehicle and mobile radio (fixed costs), however, the cost of hiring a second person can be cut almost in half. Further supplementation with part-time personnel can help fill in on full-time personnel days-off, vacation, leave-of-absence and special events days. You can even use part-time, non-sworn park services officers or rangers to complement sworn personnel. Full-time, part-time, sworn, non-sworn—yet another source of labor could be the volunteer. Volunteers can be used effectively if properly supervised and directed. As an auxiliary or reserve component for traffic control or area/facility-specific use such as mountain bike or equestrian trail patrol and surveillance, volunteers can be worth their collective weight in gold. Add to these volunteers the possibility of sponsoring a park or conservation law enforcement explorer post and you have a virtual smorgasbord of possibilities to choose from. They should, of course, join the National and the Illinois Park Law Enforcement Associations, which, in turn, are affiliated with both the National Recreation and Park Association and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. The purpose of these associations is to: "Promote the advancement of the park law enforcement profession by developing training and educational opportunities for administrators, managers, practitioners or educators involved or interested in aspects of security and protection services in an environmental or recreational setting." To this end, both associations conduct annual workshops

Contractual Park Law Enforcement (continued) agency are: • Mission of Police Department: Police departments exist to serve communities by protecting life and property, by preventing crime, enforcing the laws and maintaining order for all citizens. Conversely, park districts exist to provide quality programs, services and facilities that meet the leisure needs of the community. Park districts should concentrate their efforts on areas they know best: parks and recreation. Let an experienced police department handle what they know best: law enforcement. • Expertise, Know ledge and Skills: You can buy "law enforcement services" from an agency that has the authority, jurisdiction, and power to prevent and enforce violations of regulations and laws. The officers are trained to identify and handle situations involving crime, ordinance violation and accidents. Park districts will find it difficult to establish that expertise in personnel because of the time and financial commitment needed to develop a complete police program. For example, sending a person to the Police Training Institute for training and certification costs thousands of dollars and takes several months to complete. That is a substantial commitment for a park district to make before it puts an officer on patrol. • Financial: Contracting with a local law enforcement agency is cost-effective. The rate you pay usually covers the cost of the uniformed officer, a squad car and insurance. For example, the Waukegan Park District pays the City of Waukegan Police Department $25 per hour, per officer. The district schedules the hours through a police liaison, based on need and budget allocation. The support services and resources available to the officer and the park district in the time of need are invaluable. Administering law enforcement programs that have the authority and expertise to confront all situations may be too costly for many park districts. • Information: Your local law enforcement agency is a source of intelligence. Information can be obtained about crime in the community and the trends that can aid in crime prevention. Information from crime statistics is readily accessible to officers for investigation. Local, state and federal information banks are available for gathering additional information. • Back-up and Support: Although you may be contracting for one officer, they have the entire law enforcement agency for support and assistance if needed. The officer assigned to you can respond to calls of any nature requested by the public or staff. A park district would need to develop an intergovernmental relationship with the local law enforcement agency to gain total back-up support by that agency. Many law enforcement agencies respond to calls on a priority basis. A call from a ranger or security officer may not be considered a priority among all the calls received at the police department's communication center, even though the park personnel may consider the request for an officer necessary. • Shared Liability: An agency that contracts law-enforcement services shares or defers liability exposure with the agency contracted. A park district operating its own law-enforcement program assumes all risks for liability. • Court System: A local law enforcement agency is already part of the court system. A method for issuing citations and the follow-up prosecution through that system is in place. A park district would