Following the report that someone had written on the new picnic tables at the park, Treviño said he would ask organizations and individuals to volunteer their time to protect the facilities there.
He also said the Coastal Bend Crime Stoppers organization will offer a reward for information that could lead to an arrest of the person or persons responsible for that damage that has already been done to the park.
The city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars making improvements to the city’s most centrally located recreational area. The improvements include a $200,000 skate park, new, covered picnic tables, public restrooms, a walking trail and a butterfly garden with water feature, being built by members of the Beeville Garden Club.
City employees said apparently someone started writing on the tables with permanent ink within days of the official opening of the park. They also found graffiti written on the walls in the restroom.
Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Jefferson said graffiti has been a problem in every location where skaters have been welcomed. It always has been the main reason they’ve always been asked to leave.
“That didn’t take long,” said Armando Musquez of the Coastal Bend Crime Stoppers. He said the organization would be glad to offer a reward for information that could lead to an arrest of the vandals if it would stop the problem.
Treviño is hoping some adults will come forward and offer to volunteer to monitor the facilities. He suggested that some members of one of the city’s neighborhood watch programs might be able to provide some volunteers.
Also, Treviño suggested that some of the skaters’ parents might want to volunteer.
Policemen do patrol around the park and look for trouble. But the officers cannot be there all the time.
When he was at the park last Friday checking out the damage, Jefferson approached some of the skaters there and reminded them that it would be up to them to police the facilities. If they fail to keep vandals from damaging the taxpayers’ substantial investment in the park, severe security measures could result.
And the community could stand to lose its investment.
Anyone who might have information on who wrote the graffiti on the park tables and restroom walls should contact Coastal Bend Crime Stoppers at 362-0206 or call toll-free to (877) 362-0206.
Internet users may email crime stoppers at coastalbendcrimestoppers.com.
So before we start blaming an entire group of people, maybe a little police work to start. Look at the tagging style. If it's all the same, it's one guy. My guess is most likely no more than two or three doing the damage. And the guys doing it probably suck at skateboarding, too. Couple of "Posers."
The local boarders could step it up though and protect their turf and reputations. If some outsider is destroying your space, someone's got to go.
If everyone would take notice, there is no vandalism or graffiti on the skatepark itself. The skaters are taking care of the skatepark. It's probably non-skaters that are the vandals causing this mess from what I've asked from some of the kids. What if it happens to be one of your children, grand-children, etc.?
If you go to any park in the City of Beeville or any other city for that matter, there is vandalism and graffit on just about every park bench. It happens EVERYWHERE!
It's all of our responsibility as taxpayers to monitor and take care of our parks. Instead of all the whining and griping, why don't you come out to enjoy it and help monitor the park? The more the merrier!
We're stuck with this white elephant now. There's no getting around that. If people insist on destroying public property, then it's time to start putting people in jail.