Safety in parks a growing concern in Redwood City

Before that shooting, officers responded to two others last year in Hoover Park. The first occurred in June when one person was shot in the leg. The second was a gang-related shooting last August with no victims but bullet casings found in the Boys and Girls Club building while children and staff were present, Redwood City police Detective Kyle Trinh said.

Out of the more than two dozen parks within the city, most calls for service are made for incidents occurring in Red Morton, Hoover and Meses parks, according to data pulled by Police Chief Kristina Bell for the months of June and September of this year and last year.

Of the 19,700 calls for service made to police between June 21 and Sept. 10 of this year, 430 were related to parks and about half of park-related calls were officer-initiated, Bell said, suggesting many incidents are going underreported.

“We need your help and we need your eyes and ears, and your surveillance footage. Even your friends or children and youth or people who might be involved in some fashion or know something,” Bell said. “That helps us and it might be something you think is too small but it might not be too small to us and the more data we have about things that are happening in our parks, in our city, then we can bring that data together and have that directed enforcement approach.”

Once broken into small groups, some residents said they have made calls or reported issues on the MyRWC app, a mobile app where the public can submit service requests for nonemergency issues like graffiti, litter, potholes or abandoned vehicles. But as Bell asserted, many say they see illegal activity daily.

Their list of concerns was long with many pointing out rampant speeding, littering including abandoned drug paraphernalia, parking in red zones, issues with off-leash dogs, break-ins and other unsafe behavior. Part of the problem with community parks today, residents said, is the apathy many feel toward addressing issues or getting involved in community groups like neighborhood associations that often help coordinate responses to various problems.

Late-night drinking, smoking, gambling and open-air drug dealing were top concerns across city parks. Those behaviors, residents asserted, are what often lead to violent activities like fights that escalate into stabbings or shootings.

One resident named Rosario said she and her neighbors living in an apartment building next to Roselli Park have witnessed illegal activity occur often in the park day after day, leaving many to feel unsafe. When officers are called, people at the park scatter, she said, suggesting a sting operation would help crack down on the crime.

“There are a lot of elderly people here and we don’t feel secure,” Rosario said. “We’re like sitting ducks.”

Various solutions were put forward from distributing more information about the MyRWC app and larger more prominent signs in parks to increasing officer patrols on foot, bikes and by cadets, particularly at night, and park resources. Increasing park maintenance and enforcing park curfews were also key suggestions, with some residents noting that park restrooms are not locked at night.

Each of the four groups also called for increasing activities at all parks rather than the few normally used to host events and programming for youths to keep them out of trouble — the city recently launched its Purposeful, Action, Creation and Engagement in response to disruptions downtown by kids on bikes.

Officials did not respond directly to community concerns or suggestions. Instead, staff plans to continue gathering community input that will be reflected in a summary report that will be presented to decision makers.

“This is only the beginning,” Parks and Recreation Director Chris Beth said.

The next park safety community meeting will be offered in Spanish at the Fair Oaks Community Center at 2600 Middlefield Road from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26. A final remote session will be held from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, over Zoom.

Visit the city website at redwoodcity.org/departments/city-manager/parksafety to learn more about the park safety community meetings.