The Criminal Career Of Park And Recreational Hotspots - prevention of crime in parks

Parks & Recreation, July, 2000 by Michael R. Pendleton, Heather Lynn Thompson

Are your parks plagued by graffiti, vandalism, and litter? Maybe it is more severe: rape, homicide, drug use, and a shared view that your park is a dangerous place. How is it that parks become hotspots for crime? What are the warning signs and what can park professionals do to address this persistent, if not increasing, problem?

It's a favorite hangout for the locals. During the day, moms, kids, and young adults frolic along the famous East Beach; but by 4:30 p.m., the families leave and the trouble begins. As we wind our way through the crowded area we pass two men who have passed out drunk amidst an array of "empties." On the trail in the wooded area, we find plastic baggies and syringes--evidence of an evening cocaine session. A damaged car in the parking lot is left over from last night's fight when "a guy got drunk and started hitting people and cars until several guys dispensed some `local justice'." Although all the evidence is to the contrary, East Beach has improved since the rangers "took it back." Local residents agree that two years ago it was a really tough place where people would not go alone for fear of being attacked. East Beach, once a dead park, is now an area in transition.

Although the East Beach case is inconsistent with the prevailing view of parks as pristine and fun experiences, it describes a social phenomenon. The concentration of crime and disorder (termed crime hotspots) in specific park and recreational settings is a persistent problem for park managers. The absence of a park-specific model, combined with few opportunities for professional development in the area of crime and enforcement, force managers to react rather than anticipate and stop the rise of crime hotspots. How then, do crime hotspots develop in our parks and what are the management implications of the recreational crime hotspot phenomenon?

Studying Recreational Hotspots

For the past six years, we have studied crime and enforcement in park and recreational settings in both the United States and Canada. These settings include both remote and highly developed recreational places. Early in the research, data from extensive observations of and interviews with park professionals and users revealed the existence of crime hotspots. This data, combined with an extensive literature review, are the basis of our analysis.

The Criminal Career of a Recreational Setting

All of the settings observed in our study had recreational hotspots, yet these hotspots differed in patterned ways. For example, participants often recalled when these areas were crime free or transitioning out of heavy criminal activity. Additionally, some areas were beginning to show the signs of crime, while others were already defined as "dangerous places," as in the case of East Beach. These observations were consistent with the park crime literature, which indicates either the perceived or actual concentration of disorderly and criminal behavior in specific parks, such as Central Park in New York, MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, Warden Park in Toronto, and Balboa Park in San Diego. All parks mentioned, however, were in differing phases of reclaiming the parks from criminals, suggesting a stage or life cycle phenomenon.

Pattern analysis of our data and the literature reveals four developmental stages, which form a hotspot life cycle, or criminal career of a park or recreational setting.

STAGE I

Onset: The Threat of Disorder and the Rise of Fear

The beginning of the criminal career of a hotspot is generally a gradual process. In the majority of cases we observed, onset was always accompanied by visible signs of depreciative behavior. Crimes and violations of disorder, such as graffiti, vandalism, and littering, were often associated with the arrival of differing user groups and accompanying changes in user/recreational behaviors. For example, in one campground in a historically a low-crime area, campers noticed occult signs and symbols carved in tables and trees and spray painted on building walls shortly before several car break-ins and other thefts were reported. Soon after, new groups of users were discovered performing a "religious ritual," which included starting a prohibited fire and a number of other regulatory violations.

The depreciative behaviors and crimes of disorder detailed above are often viewed as "soft crime" because of the relatively minor or non-serious nature of the offense, Yet, if unchecked, these gateway offenses lead to a spiral of more serious crime and disorder by causing discomfort, even fear, in legitimate park users. Offenses of this nature are particularly unnerving in a park setting, which is commonly viewed as a safe and relaxed place of enjoyment. Public fear or discomfort erodes the social control over the space, making it more vulnerable to criminal invasion. If signs of disorder go unchecked, they become visual cues that there is no control in the park and that the space is unsafe, deterring law-abiding users from these areas, while potential offenders feel increasingly comfortable escalating their criminal activities. Cues of social and physical disorder begin to advertise the selected areas as "free zones" for crime.