I absolutely support this agenda item. As a frequent visitor of Pierce Park and a Board Member for Balsz School District, adding some overnight and added rangers will ensure our community members are safe AND allows an opportunity to partner with mental health or substance abuse programs.
Absolutely disturbing that MORE MONEY IS GOING TO POLICE!!
We DONT want privatized patrolling of our unsheltered neighbors, we want resources!
Stop criminalizing our communities!
Jim, Ann, Sal, Betty , we see you trying to sneak this on the agenda.
This is a waste of taxpayer money. These areas are already over-policed without positive outcome, and in fact show increased violence and death to civilians from improperly trained and biased police officers. Wasting this money on private police will only increase those numbers further. This does nothing to address the root cause issue of inequality in our communities, and should be spent on social programs to improve quality of life. This proposal is detrimental and quite frankly, stupid.
I am a skater and I've used these parks for half of my life. I have a friends who have used these parks as sancturies when they had no where else to go. Bringing overnight security will not help with anything. It will only cause harrasment & unecessary arrests. We do not need and we do not want overnight security at our parks.
Vote no and oppose this agenda item 96.Last month, the city council was doubling down on their interest in ‘data’ and ensuring successful programs. There is a suffice amount of data showing that Phx PD are the deadliest police force in the nation, that increasing police/security presence DOES NOT lead to community safety, and lastly that unsheltered community members actually just want to be left alone. It’s criminal to not allow people public spaces when you do not provide any housing support.
The city's desire to increase policing is counterintuitive to ALL the city's mental health training for its staff. All the posted pictures of officers attending crisis intervention training is wasted. Castle Rock v Gonzales taught us that police do not protect people. There is no affordable housing, shelters are limited, housing wait lists are at 6 months minimum. The city wants to manage the behavior of unhoused people by punishing them for not having or losing their resources.
It is outrageous that the city council has on its agenda a request to pay private security $400,000 that will in effect criminalize unsheltered people. The city council needs to put these funds into real solutions – not money that will just kick the can down the road. Please vote no on this request and instead use the monies to help not hurt our unsheltered community.
I am a PhD candidate in the School of Community Resources and Development at the ASU downtown campus. I am a white, middle-class, housed park user. I am disgusted, disheartened, and furious with this flagrant attack on unsheltered people in South and West Phoenix. I am scared for my unhoused neighbors who are looking to public parks as a safe place to rest. If approved, this proposal will make Phoenix LESS safe for those who are already the most at risk. Invest that money in programs/services.
This would only serve to endanger our most vulnerable populations. Some commenters have said parks are underutilized because parents do not want to take their kids to the park. I am not sure how this proposal fixes that since it is a proposal for overnight security only. This proposal has clearly not been well researched and it would be irresponsible to spend almost half a million dollars on a private security company when it is not addressing the true issue.
Council doesn't "CARE" about the unhoused population of their city, they only care about the "impact" it has on their city. Jim, Sal, Ann, and Debora's solution is not to solve the causes of homelessness but to criminalize, lock up, and eradicate human beings who are experiencing homelessness. They allow POLICE to MURDER people like Ali Osman (and countless others) and want to spend money on Park Rangers to sweep up people sleeping in parks when the city has no place for them to go. Purest evil.
We do not need more security, police, or police-like individuals at these parks. There are families, children, and unsheltered people at these parks who will be more unsafe and unwelcome if you do this. If you have concerns over the cleanliness and safety of our parks, please think about engaging members of the community to help with the solution. Stop militarizing our public spaces just because you are uncomfortable with poverty and/or people of color.
I am in favor of the City of Phoenix contracting private security in city parks. Security at city parks is nothing more than a visual deterrent that will lessen obvious criminal behavior and lessen potential liability of opportunistic criminal behavior that others perform and blame on our homeless as well. Criminal behavior does not respect signs or closure, we need to make our parks safer for ALL of our citizens including our homeless who could be victims from unsafe park venues as well.
No on Agenda Item 96. If there are additional funds available to use at these parks, use the funds to improve the health of the community. Plenty of research shows that things like improving the physical surroundings of a community, providing workforce development, youth development, and increasing community organizations, all decrease crime. If the goal is to make the area safer, invest the money in things that increase safety, not things that further harm people, like private policing.
As a person who walks through Pierce Park (directly across the street from an elementary school students walk through to get home), & who recently worked with city officials to stop an organized group of people from outside the neighborhood dealing drugs there, I support this measure for OVERNIGHT security provided there is an acceptable level of transparency, accountability and coordination with Phoenix C.A.R.E.S. and other available wraparound services for those in need when contact is made.
I strongly oppose this measure. Our communities do NOT need thousands of dollars on private security to make our vulnerable community less safe. Funds requested should be used towards housing and services, not additional policing.
Please vote against this dangerous and wasteful proposal. Any funds requested should be used towards housing, not making places more unsafe for our most vulnerable community members.
I strongly oppose this measure. I live within walking distance of Cielito Park & would feel less safe, given the lack of accountability the public would have over the supervision of our parks, based on the absence of accountability & consequences over our own police department. The City of Phx already spends an absurd amount of the budget on policing. It’s time to invest similar funding into services that benefit all residents, including our unhoused neighbors & folks facing addiction.
I do not support the increased surveillance of our parks to discourage and intimidate those who need shelter and a place to be. This money should be used to address why people are there in the first place, not how to use rules and force to make it more difficult for people in that position. More case workers, substance abuse resources, mental health support, and education on what being unsheltered means and what a community can do to help people in those circumstances,kids need to be in the know
We need investments in mental health, not over surveillance and over policing.
I absolutely support this agenda item. As a frequent visitor of Pierce Park and a Board Member for Balsz School District, adding some overnight and added rangers will ensure our community members are safe AND allows an opportunity to partner with mental health or substance abuse programs.
Absolutely disturbing that MORE MONEY IS GOING TO POLICE!!
We DONT want privatized patrolling of our unsheltered neighbors, we want resources!
Stop criminalizing our communities!
Jim, Ann, Sal, Betty , we see you trying to sneak this on the agenda.
Carlos, Betty, Laura, Yass, and Kate, VOTE NO!!!
This is a waste of taxpayer money. These areas are already over-policed without positive outcome, and in fact show increased violence and death to civilians from improperly trained and biased police officers. Wasting this money on private police will only increase those numbers further. This does nothing to address the root cause issue of inequality in our communities, and should be spent on social programs to improve quality of life. This proposal is detrimental and quite frankly, stupid.
I am a skater and I've used these parks for half of my life. I have a friends who have used these parks as sancturies when they had no where else to go. Bringing overnight security will not help with anything. It will only cause harrasment & unecessary arrests. We do not need and we do not want overnight security at our parks.
Vote no and oppose this agenda item 96.Last month, the city council was doubling down on their interest in ‘data’ and ensuring successful programs. There is a suffice amount of data showing that Phx PD are the deadliest police force in the nation, that increasing police/security presence DOES NOT lead to community safety, and lastly that unsheltered community members actually just want to be left alone. It’s criminal to not allow people public spaces when you do not provide any housing support.
The city's desire to increase policing is counterintuitive to ALL the city's mental health training for its staff. All the posted pictures of officers attending crisis intervention training is wasted. Castle Rock v Gonzales taught us that police do not protect people. There is no affordable housing, shelters are limited, housing wait lists are at 6 months minimum. The city wants to manage the behavior of unhoused people by punishing them for not having or losing their resources.
It is outrageous that the city council has on its agenda a request to pay private security $400,000 that will in effect criminalize unsheltered people. The city council needs to put these funds into real solutions – not money that will just kick the can down the road. Please vote no on this request and instead use the monies to help not hurt our unsheltered community.
I am a PhD candidate in the School of Community Resources and Development at the ASU downtown campus. I am a white, middle-class, housed park user. I am disgusted, disheartened, and furious with this flagrant attack on unsheltered people in South and West Phoenix. I am scared for my unhoused neighbors who are looking to public parks as a safe place to rest. If approved, this proposal will make Phoenix LESS safe for those who are already the most at risk. Invest that money in programs/services.
This would only serve to endanger our most vulnerable populations. Some commenters have said parks are underutilized because parents do not want to take their kids to the park. I am not sure how this proposal fixes that since it is a proposal for overnight security only. This proposal has clearly not been well researched and it would be irresponsible to spend almost half a million dollars on a private security company when it is not addressing the true issue.
Council doesn't "CARE" about the unhoused population of their city, they only care about the "impact" it has on their city. Jim, Sal, Ann, and Debora's solution is not to solve the causes of homelessness but to criminalize, lock up, and eradicate human beings who are experiencing homelessness. They allow POLICE to MURDER people like Ali Osman (and countless others) and want to spend money on Park Rangers to sweep up people sleeping in parks when the city has no place for them to go. Purest evil.
We do not need more security, police, or police-like individuals at these parks. There are families, children, and unsheltered people at these parks who will be more unsafe and unwelcome if you do this. If you have concerns over the cleanliness and safety of our parks, please think about engaging members of the community to help with the solution. Stop militarizing our public spaces just because you are uncomfortable with poverty and/or people of color.
I am in favor of the City of Phoenix contracting private security in city parks. Security at city parks is nothing more than a visual deterrent that will lessen obvious criminal behavior and lessen potential liability of opportunistic criminal behavior that others perform and blame on our homeless as well. Criminal behavior does not respect signs or closure, we need to make our parks safer for ALL of our citizens including our homeless who could be victims from unsafe park venues as well.
Our parks are becoming more and more dangerous especially Pierce which is right next to an elementary school
No on Agenda Item 96. If there are additional funds available to use at these parks, use the funds to improve the health of the community. Plenty of research shows that things like improving the physical surroundings of a community, providing workforce development, youth development, and increasing community organizations, all decrease crime. If the goal is to make the area safer, invest the money in things that increase safety, not things that further harm people, like private policing.
As a person who walks through Pierce Park (directly across the street from an elementary school students walk through to get home), & who recently worked with city officials to stop an organized group of people from outside the neighborhood dealing drugs there, I support this measure for OVERNIGHT security provided there is an acceptable level of transparency, accountability and coordination with Phoenix C.A.R.E.S. and other available wraparound services for those in need when contact is made.
I strongly oppose this measure. Our communities do NOT need thousands of dollars on private security to make our vulnerable community less safe. Funds requested should be used towards housing and services, not additional policing.
Please vote against this dangerous and wasteful proposal. Any funds requested should be used towards housing, not making places more unsafe for our most vulnerable community members.
I strongly oppose this measure. I live within walking distance of Cielito Park & would feel less safe, given the lack of accountability the public would have over the supervision of our parks, based on the absence of accountability & consequences over our own police department. The City of Phx already spends an absurd amount of the budget on policing. It’s time to invest similar funding into services that benefit all residents, including our unhoused neighbors & folks facing addiction.
I do not support the increased surveillance of our parks to discourage and intimidate those who need shelter and a place to be. This money should be used to address why people are there in the first place, not how to use rules and force to make it more difficult for people in that position. More case workers, substance abuse resources, mental health support, and education on what being unsheltered means and what a community can do to help people in those circumstances,kids need to be in the know