Security added to Memorial Park after series of crimes
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A safety improvement at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs is now complete. It comes after police data found that there were more than 300 crimes reported at Memorial Park between 2020 and 2022.
Thousands of people gather at Memorial Park to skateboard, bike, fish, play frisbee, or for just a nice picnic. While most people feel safe during the day, many people do not at night.
“Sometimes I come at night, but not recently, maybe only once or twice. But I remember it still being fun,” said Kylan Kincaid, a skateboarder.
On Friday, Colorado Springs Police announced they completed a $1.7 million security project on the park. This comes after a string of crimes that happened at the park at night.
“You can really come here like any time past, like seven, 8:00. And you’ll probably see something mischievous, like other people in the parking lot doing drugs [and] spray painting. It’s kind of like a free-for-all here. It’s kind of like a, just a wild wasteland,” said Devin Brown, a skateboarder.
Police held numerous meetings with community stakeholders and revealed the top three biggest concerns were lighting, vandalism, and crime. “I think the cameras are definitely a big help because now you can know that everyone else can see what goes on here,” said Devin Brown.
Devin Brown has been coming to the skate park since he was a kid and called the park home. He said he comes to the park almost every day. But he says he’s tired of people thinking the skateboarders are responsible for the crimes.
“We just kind of got the bad rap just because, like, other things do go down here, but it’s not necessarily the skaters. So, I think having the cameras and the gates, it’s something [that will] show that it’s more of, like, the outside world coming in here, starting things versus the actual skateboard community,” he said.
In response, police installed 19 gates at all the entrances to make sure vehicles cannot enter the park after hours. They also added 10 security cameras and 180 new or improved lights to increase visibility at night.
“Just respectfully, please stop coming here with all the mysterious stuff, because it does make the Colorado Springs skate community look really rough when they come here and bring like, all of their violence and drug use and all that here because then it’s like everyone’s afraid to come here,” said Brown.
Memorial Park hours are between 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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