Guidelines for Park Police

by Sgt. Friedrich Stein, Carol Stream Park District

PURPOSE:

The park district police force fulfills the task of the protection of life and property throughout the areas controlled by the district for which they are employed. In addition, park policemen provide additional service to the public, by being able to assist the park user in finding recreational areas and park sponsored programs, and by being able to answer general questions about activities offered by the park.

SCOPE:

Most park districts are finding that a park police force is becoming more and more of a necessity to help control the rising trend of vandalism, drug abuse, and other crimes that are plaguing our nations parks and recreational areas. The type of service that the park police perform will vary greatly depending on the size of the district, amount of people using the parks, the economic level of the surrounding area, and the size of the park district police force. In general, while the park police may handle some problems, incidents that require specialized work such as evidence technician, social services, etc., should be handled by the local municipal police organization, who, in most instances, will be better prepared to handle the situation.

ADVANTAGES:

Park districts having their own police force benefit by: 1) having full coverage of the parks during periods of high activity; 2) having the parks covered during hours that the normal staff is off; 3) having incidents handled in the best interest of the park district; and 4) having officers that know all of the park properties, programs, and park procedures.

TRAINING:

In police work, training is a necessity, for no one is prepared to work in law enforcement by instinct, or past experience. It should be mandatory that all fulltime officers complete the state minimum standards course in basic law enforcement, and that part-time officers receive training through a similar course designed for auxiliary police officers. All park district officers should receive training in first-aid, and be required to carry a valid first-aid card. They should also receive an in-service training program from the park district. This should include park district organization, programs, services and facilities. Because large amounts of juveniles frequent the parks and recreational areas, each Park District should have at least one trained juvenile officer available on call, to deal with problems concerning youths.

ADMINISTRATION:

The operations of the park district police force must be overseen by a ranking park official, in order to coordinate operations of the park police with other programs of the park district. Each park police force should have at least one command rank police officer to have supervisory control and to maintain discipline within his chain-of-command.

ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS:

The park and recreation setting, by its very nature, lends itself to a wide variety of law and ordinance violations, some of which are intentional, while others are very unintentional. Usually a warning of the violation will be enough to restore order, but if this fails, or the offense is of a serious nature, it may necessitate that the park policeman make an arrest. In a park and recreation setting, an arrest should only be used as a last resort to restoring order, or by the command of an arrest warrant.

Enforcement of vehicle laws is a secondary task of a park policeman, and is usually an area that can cause many problems for the officer. It is a good practice to let the local municipal police handle the traffic problems, however when a serious violation of the vehicle code is committed, the officer must take action to protect the life and property within the parks, and to help preserve the peace.

EQUIPMENT:

The laws of most states make park district police officers, law enforcement officers by their statutes. They, therefore, should have all the necessary tools to accomplish the task of law enforcement, and to provide for the safety of the park user and himself.

VEHICLE:

As most park districts have more than one park, it becomes a necessity for the park police force to have a well equipped vehicle for police duty. This vehicle should have all the necessary equipment to deal with any

Illinois Parks and Recreation 32 September/Octobar, 1977

emergency situation that may be encountered away from the main park. The minimum equipment for a squad vehicle should be: first aid kit, disposable blanket, life buoy, fire extinguisher, crowbar, dog pole, flairs, rope, dog gloves, siren/p.a. unit, spot light, red overhead lights.

UNIFORM:

The park policeman's uniform is one of the officers most important tools for carrying out his job. It is the symbol of his authority, and identifies the officer as a helping hand to those that are in need of assistance.

The park policeman's uniform should be recognizable as a police uniform, but should also be enough different from the local police department so that the difference between the park officer, and the municipal officer are readily apparent. This is to avoid any possible confusion between the two agencies.

SUMMARY:

Park district police forces are rapidly becoming a part of many of the nations park districts. With this growth, an attempt must be made to insure that the park police meet a standard of training and professionalism equal to those of their municipal counterparts. Their knowledge of the parks and recreational areas must surpass any knowledge of general areas that are expected of most law enforcement officers. The park police officer is in front of the public on more occasions, and therefore must maintain the highest level of public relations possible.

Since the park environment is unfamiliar to a large number of the public, the park policeman must make himself available to the park user as an information source, and remain knowledgeable of information concerning both park activities, and natural surroundings, ready to answer questions, or able to refer the person for the proper information.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 33 September/October, 1977