Decrease in APD patrols around city parks a ‘grave concern,’ city leaders say

ATLANTA - The future of a program created to reduce crime inside Atlanta city parks is now in question. This after city leaders say a misunderstanding over funding may have led officials in charge of the city’s parks to scale back its rotation of police patrols.

The Park Patrol Program was established as a partnership between the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department. It gave officers a way to earn some extra money and residents an added feeling of safety. Recently, some residents said they’ve noticed a shift.

"We have a real need here for security here," NPU-P Parks and Recreation Chairman Lewis Woodson said Tuesday.

Woodson said that need hasn’t been met in recent months as Atlanta police patrols around the parks he supervises have seemingly slowed down.

"They promised us that they would have police coming through patrolling—a couple of cars at different times—so that it would give us a sense of security. That happened for a short length of time but in the past year, it’s stopped," he told FOX 5.

In the past year at Ben Hill Park, a teen was shot playing basketball in June and last month a youth football practice was interrupted by gunfire coming from the woods nearby.

"We don’t want the worst-case scenario where we have children getting hurt. We want to be able to come here and enjoy themselves," Woodson explained.

He told FOX 5 that was reason enough to bring concerns about the status of the park patrol program to city leaders.

At the Monday’s public safety committee meeting, Councilman Michael Bond, who helped create the program, requested APD officials look into a rumor the city may have run through the money that was allocated to pay officers.

"That is a grave concern because not only has the presence of our APD officers in the park almost completely reduced crime across the board when they’re present, they’ve been able to respond to local 911 calls when they’re in the area," Bond said Tuesday.

He told FOX 5 since Mayor Andre Dickens nearly doubled funding for parks; the money isn’t an issue.

"It’s gone now from about $28 million annually to 40—almost $40 million. Five percent of that amount can be used for personnel costs," he explained.

Bone said they’ll do whatever needs to be done to ensure around the clock patrols resume at city parks and APD officials will provide an update at the next public safety committee meeting on Oct. 23.