San Diego’s City Council recently approved a plan intended to reduce drug use and vandalism within city parks. Home to nearly 400 parks, the city is expanding their use of after-hour curfews at three parks located in Pacific Beach: Fanuel Park, Pacific Beach Library Park, and the Mission Bay Athletic Area, commonly referred to as the Bob McEvoy Fields. If the curfews are approved by council, San Diego will have 16 parks with night time curfews.
Crime reduction is the sole intention of the council’s plan, which is great news if you’re in the market for downtown San Diego condos. Police argue that curfews are effective in reducing crime because they limit one’s opportunities to commit crimes and it gives police another enforcement tool, allowing them to approach people attending parks at night. The police have the ability to remove people from the park without witnessing a crime.
Park officials, however, are wary about curfews, because they would like to see the parks open to the public for as many hours of the day as they can be. In low-crime areas, parks are used nearly nightly during the summer for picnics and general get-togethers. While city officials will not be analyzing crime statistics to determine which parks would benefit from enforced curfews, they do plan to allow neighborhoods to independently pursue curfews.
Another issue is the growing homeless population, who often use the less-crowded parks at night as places to sleep. While the intended goal is to reduce crime in high-crime areas, an unintended consequence is that it redistributes the homeless to low-crime areas where the parks lack curfews.
Many residents who attended the council meeting voiced satisfaction with the move to implement curfews, citing fear of walking and jogging in their own neighborhood at night as their reasons for support. Parks with curfews will still host pre-approved special events during curfew hours.