Park rangers coming to patrol Modesto’s parks? What they’d do, and when they could start
Modesto is looking at starting a park ranger program and assigning these employees to the city parks that generate the most quality-of-life complaints, including drinking and drug use, public urination, camping and other misbehavior.
The rangers would not have firearms but would have pepper spray and handcuffs and perhaps tasers. They could write citations for violations of Modesto’s municipal code and California’s penal code. They could not take people to jail and would call for officers to handle more serious offenses.
“They will have that authority to resolve issues,” Police Chief Brandon Gillespie said in an interview. “We want them to provide a consistent presence in our parks and problem areas.”
But he said the rangers will focus first on gaining voluntary compliance before moving to enforcement. He added they will work closely with the Police Department’s four outreach workers who engage with homeless people in an effort to get them into services and off the streets.
Gillespie said it is not a crime to be homeless and in a city park when the park is open. He said the issue is when anyone engages in unlawful or bad behavior in a park. He said that includes people who refuse to leave park bathrooms when city workers try to clean them or engage in vandalism and graffiti.
This would be an 18-month pilot program the city would assess and possibly adjust during its operation. Gillespie said in an interview that he could ask the City Council to approve the program in late November or December.
He said if council members approve it, the program could start within a few months to allow for the recruiting, hiring and training of the rangers. The rangers actually would be hired for the position of police cadet II but would be designated as park rangers.
The program would start with four full-time rangers.
When asked whether four is enough, Gillespie said while Modesto has about 75 parks only a handful generate the most complaints, including Graceada, Enslen and J.M. Pike parks. He said the rangers also would patrol the city’s other outdoor recreation areas, such as the Tuolumne River Regional Park and the Dry Creek, Helen White and Virginia trails.
But Gillespie said the city will assess the program to see whether four rangers is sufficient and the number could be increased with council approval.
Councilman Chris Ricci has advocated for park rangers and expressed his appreciation.
Great start but more needed
“We as a city do not have enough police officers to station police officers in our parks,” he said. “... I am thrilled (about the proposal). This is exactly what I was hoping to get accomplished.”
Ricci and the two other council members at the council’s Oct. 11 Safety and Communities Committee meeting unanimously endorsed the proposal and forwarded it to the full seven-member council for approval. Ricci said Mayor Sue Zwahlen and Councilwoman Rosa Escutia-Braaton cast the other two votes in support of the proposal.
Ricci said while this is an excellent start, more needs to be done to address homelessness in Modesto. He said that includes designating places for people who live in their cars and motor homes to park as well as designating places for homeless people to camp.
Ricci said he “remains positive and enthusiastic” that at the very least the city will have a public discussion about these proposals and he will continue to advocate for them. But he said he credits city staff and officials for putting together the park ranger proposal.
Modesto officials have talked for several years about having park rangers but have not been able to find a way to pay for it.
Gillespie said the city would spend about $624,000 from its federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for the pilot program. That includes the compensation, including overtime, for the rangers as well as their training, uniforms and equipment. The city also would buy them two pickup trucks.
American Rescue Plan
Gillespie said the rangers would patrol on foot and on bicycles. The city may purchase electric bikes for when the rangers patrol long distances, such as in the Tuolumne River Regional Park.
Modesto is getting about $46 million from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus President Joe Biden signed in March to help the nation weather the pandemic’s economic impact. Modesto has received half of its funding and will receive the balance next year.
Gillespie said each ranger would work the same schedule as police officers: four 11-hour days and then four days off.
He said the plan is to have a ranger on duty every day of the week and to have them work by themselves. They would provide close to but not 24-hour-a-day coverage.
But Gillespie said their schedules could be adjusted so there is overlap in shifts or to pair the rangers up. These adjustments would be based on the Police Department’s ongoing assessment of the program.
May raise age for rangers
The Police Department’s cadets are 18 to 25 years old and work part time while attending college. The department created the program a few years ago to provide opportunities for young people interested in law enforcement to learn about it while completing their education.
The cadets also take on tasks that free up time for police officers. Gillespie said the department now has about a dozen part-time cadets. He said he may increase the age for the candidates the city hires to work full time as park rangers.
The proposal drew support from two moms at Roosevelt Park in central Modesto on a recent weekday afternoon. The park is along Orangeburg Avenue and next to the Virginia Trail. It was filled with children in the playground, people walking their dogs along the walking path, people playing tennis and pickle ball on the tennis courts, and others enjoying the nice afternoon.
Both moms said they have not experienced problems in the park but like the idea of park rangers.
Monique Sanders, one of the moms, said she walks her dog a couple times a week at Roosevelt, and her 13-year-old son plays with his friends at the park most days. Sanders said she likes the additional safety park rangers would provide.
“I’m not looking for a babysitter,” she said, “but for the kids as a precaution.”
Life on the streets
A sixty-something homeless man who had spent Wednesday night sleeping along the Helen White Trail in west Modesto said Thursday that he supports having park rangers but just as long as they don’t bother him and the other homeless people who keep out of trouble and clean up after themselves.
The man, who declined to give his name, said he and his dog Zeus — a 10-month-old pit bull-Great Dane mix — spend two or three nights at one spot before moving on. He said he’s lived in Modesto for most of the last 30 years and has family here. He said they have offered to take him in but said he prefers to live outdoors.
He said until a few years ago he worked as a migrant farmworker here and as far north as Oregon, Washington and Idaho. “You name it,” he said, “if it grew on a tree, I picked it.”
These days he said he gets by collecting recyclables, making about $30 on a good day.
The man — who was interviewed on the Helen White Trail — said he had no desire to give up living on the streets and liked the idea of designated campgrounds for homeless people. “That would be all right,” he said. “Lot of people choose to be homeless.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
