Sitting near Trinity Park鈥檚 duck pond on a warm February afternoon, Claudia Verduzco felt safe enjoying nature with her two young children. But she doesn鈥檛 feel that way in every Fort Worth park, especially once the sun sets. Drug activity in some southeast parks has kept her away.
Higher police visibility could help reduce those challenges and make parks more secure for moms like her, Verduzco said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 people who work during the day. They want to go out and maybe relax a little bit at night, and they just don鈥檛 feel safe so they end up just staying home,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f there was to be more police officers that can make their rounds and just make sure everything is fine, then it will be safer.鈥�
Verduzco could see off-duty Fort Worth police officers patrolling parks if a new proposal gets the go-ahead from City Council members. Parks officials are seeking funds from the city鈥檚 , or CCPD, to pay police officers to work overtime hours in each of Fort Worth鈥檚 six park districts. City Council members sit on the CCPD board and approve its budget and priorities.
What is the Crime Control and Prevention District, and how does it work?
Fort Worth鈥檚 is a special purpose tax district that collects funds from a half-cent sales tax. The district鈥檚 budget funds crime prevention and intervention programs for local, registered nonprofits.
Fort Worth police administer the funds, while the board of directors 鈥� all City Council members 鈥� manages the budget and evaluates programs. CCPD policies say district-funded programs must reduce violent crime and gang-related activity, increase resident safety and youth safety or reduce juvenile crime through prevention and intervention programs.
The $458,340 program would fund 4,992 police overtime hours during the city鈥檚 2025 financial year, which kicks off Oct. 1. That comes out to about 16 hours a week per district, said parks superintendent Clint Wyatt.
Under the plan, off-duty officers would respond to lower-priority calls and growing issues within parks, such as homeless encampments or off-road vehicles, Wyatt said.
鈥淪omething as simple as having a police officer鈥檚 car in the parking lot or an officer鈥檚 presence in a recreation center, it automatically deters any type of criminal activity,鈥� Wyatt said. 鈥淥ur intention isn鈥檛 to be a 鈥榞otcha鈥� type thing. It鈥檚 more letting people know, educating them and promoting overall safety within the park.鈥�
Parks staff have provided information to Fort Worth police about the request to provide off-duty certified peace officers to patrol parks, said police spokesperson Tracy Carter.
鈥淲e are currently reviewing this request and the need in order to determine how best to address it,鈥� Carter said by email.
Not everyone supports the idea. Pastor and community organizer Kyev Tatum serves on Fort Worth鈥檚 park and recreation advisory board, appointed by Jared Williams to represent the southwest district.
Tatum doesn鈥檛 want to minimize anyone鈥檚 concerns about crime or cleanliness in parks, but he鈥檚 not sure more policing is the answer. CCPD funds should go toward organizations and programs that prevent these kinds of crimes from happening, he said.
鈥淲hen I think parks, I think peace and tranquility,鈥� Tatum said. 鈥淚 think mental health, refreshment, revitalizing. I just don鈥檛 want the police out in the parks like that. It鈥檚 such a tense situation when it鈥檚 always police.鈥�
City says it needs more crime data to justify park ranger program
Originally, Wyatt and assistant parks director Sandra Youngblood wanted to create a park ranger-like program employing six full-time civilian staff to patrol parks. They sought funding from CCPD to support the program, which would have focused on educating park visitors about ordinances and responding to calls.
That proposal failed to gain traction among City Council members last year, in part due to the high cost of adding full-time employees and a lack of data showing where crime was taking place in city parks, Youngblood said. Officials submitted the park ranger program to be included in the city鈥檚 2024 general budget, but that request was also denied, she said.
Wyatt expects the overtime proposal to earn a warmer reception from city leadership. He and Youngblood presented details to the CCPD board鈥檚 budget committee in February. Council members typically approve the budget in August.
鈥淎nytime you鈥檙e adding a full-time employee, you have got to look at long-term benefits packages and all that,鈥� Wyatt said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not asking for full-time employees. We鈥檙e not asking for additional staff. We鈥檙e just asking for overtime funds.鈥�
Cities across Texas vary in how they enforce laws and city ordinances in their park systems. Dallas, Austin and Houston employ rangers who monitor parks, trails and recreation facilities to educate visitors on regulations and safety measures. San Antonio employs park police officers who have power to arrest and issue citations.
Wyatt previously worked in Corpus Christi, which park enforcement officers through its code enforcement department. He wondered why Fort Worth 鈥� a city three times larger than Corpus Christi 鈥� couldn鈥檛 have a similar program.
鈥淵ou do notice how many little calls you get that add up to a customer service thing, which is really what park patrol or a park ranger program is,鈥� Wyatt said. 鈥淚t just provides that presence, that crime deterrent. That鈥檚 something I saw that I thought we needed.鈥�
The demand for more safety measures in Fort Worth is clear to Youngblood, who pointed to the results of the city鈥檚 as an example. Of the 1,858 households who completed the survey, 50% said they felt safe in city parks. Nearly 30% said they felt 鈥渘eutral鈥� about safety in city parks, while the remaining 20% said they did not feel safe.
The feeling of safety has decreased over the past two years, according to released in early March. About 43% of respondents said they felt safe in city parks 鈥� well below the average of 61% in large communities across the U.S. Less than a third of respondents said they were satisfied with street lighting in city parks.
While community survey results suggest security concerns, there is little specific data showing crime trends in parks, Youngblood said. In many instances, criminal incidents or city ordinance violations in parks are not reported to police. If the incidents are reported, residents and police often list a home or business address rather than the park鈥檚 address, Youngblood said.
鈥淲e really have a hard time documenting what crime goes on in our parks,鈥� Youngblood said. 鈥淲e are starting to gather the necessary data that hopefully, one day, will justify having more than just 16 hours of police in each of our parks districts on a weekly basis.鈥�
Without data, it鈥檚 unclear what crime is happening in parks and how police could resolve those problems, Tatum said.
鈥淲hen you just run things based on feelings, a lot of money goes into a lot of different areas,鈥� Tatum said. 鈥淭he concern is real. Their approach to resolving it, which has always been Fort Worth鈥檚 approach, is just throw more law enforcement at it. The immediate knee jerk response 鈥� hire more enforcement, spend more money 鈥� I鈥檓 just not an advocate of that.鈥�
鈥楧on鈥檛 give police more problems鈥�
Parks leaders saw the impact of having boots on the ground last summer, when three college interns for Tandy Hills Natural Area in east Fort Worth. In addition to training in natural resources management, interns educated residents about park policies and documented instances where people drove ATVs onto native prairies or photographers went off trail to take scenic pictures of clients.
Don Young, the longtime leader of the , has raised concerns about people trampling the prairie for more than a decade. He鈥檚 called police to report vandalism and other city ordinance violations, but officers typically don鈥檛 respond due to higher priority calls, Young said.
He doesn鈥檛 have much confidence that the city鈥檚 overtime proposal will have a large impact on the issues he sees at Tandy Hills. Tandy Hills needs a dedicated park ranger, but that鈥檚 not something the city has been willing to commit to, Young said.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 something they鈥檙e talking about. I imagine in 2025, we might see some action,鈥� Young said. 鈥淓ven in this time of year when there鈥檚 nothing blooming at Tandy Hills, we still get large crowds. But in a couple months when it鈥檚 looking very photogenic, it鈥檚 going to be starting up again where I鈥檓 out there most every day playing park ranger, even though I don鈥檛 have a uniform.鈥�
If the city operates a park ranger program in the future, Tatum would like to see it operated by civilians rather than police.
鈥淗ow can we, not them, come up with a solution?鈥� Tatum said. 鈥淧eople solve problems. Don鈥檛 give police more problems. We can solve this problem.鈥�
Wyatt and Youngblood say increasing the amount of police hours dedicated to parks would make people more comfortable going to their neighborhood parks.
鈥淭he majority of people in the park are there to enjoy the park,鈥� Wyatt said. 鈥淭he only people that are going to be upset are the people who are doing stuff they shouldn鈥檛 be doing.鈥�
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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