The News Room [News Release]

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-213-5162
Release Date: Thursday, August 24, 2006

Sheriff’s patrols help quiet Chandler Park

• Area residents hail deputies’ efforts to make city park more family friendly

For years Detroit’s Chandler Park has been a magnet for young people who like to have fun on summer nights, often attracting hundreds of people out to socialize. Recently, however, much of that fun has been occurring in forms not only unwelcome by other park users and area residents, but often illegal.

Residents have complained of drag racing, loud music, drug use and even public sex acts. Much of the activity has taken place late into the evening, well after the park officially closes at 10 PM, which is of particular concern to area homeowners.

Recent patrols and traffic enforcement at the park by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, however, has helped return Chandler Park to a family-friendly environment, according to Sheriff Warren C. Evans. Although the Sheriff’s Office typically does not patrol city parks, the county’s unique arrangement to operate a water park within Detroit-owned Chandler Park made sheriff patrols justifiable, Evans said.

“This is all about quality of life and responding to the needs of a community,” Evans said. “People in every community deserve to have an oasis they can go to and escape the stress and concerns of their daily lives. Local residents from this neighborhood have come up to our officers to thank them for making their oasis family friendly again.”

The idea to patrol Chandler Park came from Wayne County Commissioner Bernard Parker, who represents that area of Detroit and has seen the types of problems that were occurring on a regular basis.

“Park patrol is something the Sheriff’s Office is very familiar with, since it already patrols Hines Park and Elizabeth Park in Trenton,” Parker said. “I thought it made sense for the county to take some ownership of what is essentially a city park with a major Wayne County attraction that generates a lot of traffic. It looks like a perfect fit and already has made a big impact.”

In just the first week, deputies have issued numerous citations, towed more than a dozen vehicles under nuisance abatement ordinances regarding drug use, made drug-related arrests, recovered three stolen vehicles, served outstanding felony warrants and made dozens more investigative traffic stops.

The high visibility of the sheriff’s deputies also has helped clear the park out once it closes. Residents had complained that partiers stayed in the park well into the night and early morning hours, which is when much of the problematic behavior would occur. Now deputies say that people are leaving the park promptly when it closes for the night.

Set up as a pilot project, patrols began August 15 th and will run through Labor Day. Officers have been assigned to work during peak hours at the park seven days a week. The results have been so dramatic, Evans and Parker, who chairs the County’s Wayne & Means Committee, say that they expect the patrol to resume next summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

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