Four-wheelers vandalizing Dallas parks at taxpayers' expense
DALLAS - Robert Saba practices with his soccer team at Kiest Park almost every evening. The Ghana native said his team avoids a portion of one soccer field when it rains.
"And then they have to scratch the field to make it bad," Saba said.
Saba's scratches are swirls and turns where ATVs ride illegally through the park's grounds. His team could power through the ruptured field, but he said it was unsafe for the players.
"It's not healthy to do that," he said.
The soccer coach still wonders what would make someone do that to areas children and adults use for Recreation.
Renee' Johnson is the Dallas Parks and Recreation Assistant Director of Park Maintenance and Operations. She said four-wheeled offenders are looking for wide-open spaces to ride, but Dallas's more than 400 parks are not where that should happen.
"It really damages the turf," Johnson said. "Our goal is to have an aesthetically pleasing park system. We want to have a safe park system."
The department released pictures from Cotillion Park, St. Augustine, Moore, South Oak Cliff Renaissance, Kiest, and Willie Mae Butler, where someone vandalized the grounds.
"Number one, it impacts us and impacts the patrons. It impacts our maintenance," she said.
Johnson said the damage is hard to nail down to an exact figure, but it's thousands of dollars in repair from taxpayers.
Dallas parks have Park Rangers who patrol parks. The grounds also have a partnership with the City Marshal's Office. If there is a critical incident, Dallas Police respond.
The vandalism of grounds may not rise to a police response, but it's a problem. Parks & Recreation wants the public to report the activity to keep the properties in shape for parkgoers.
A male park user who did not want to get identified for safety reasons said he'd seen four-wheelers in the park on the weekend, specifically between 2 and 4 p.m.
"They park over there and then just ride around and about," he said. "Sometimes they go all the way around the park."
Park officials said they have caught some offenders, set up cameras at specific parks, and plan to add more.
They ask the public to report offenders to the Park Ranger Hotline at 214-671-7000. Callers can also make reports to 311 and dial 911 for emergency incidents at parks.