Scotts Valley skate park closed due to ongoing vandalism
For the 4th time in 2017, the Scotts Valley Skate Park has been closed due to vandalism.
Scotts Valley Police said “due to ongoing vandalism and destruction of city property, the skate park will be closed for 48 hours.”
The parks closure began on Thursday (12/28) after trash was spread all over the skate park located at 361 Kings Village Road.
In the past, people have ripped the bars off the fence around the skate park and tagged the property. This most recent closure was due to people bringing trash cans from around the park into the skating area, throwing out the contents and using the cans as obstacles, causing damage.
Police said the Skypark location is the most heavily patrolled area in the city. “This year alone the Scotts Valley police department has been out to the skate board park 440 times it is the most heavily patrolled location in Scotts valley,” says Lieutenant Mike Dean.
Dean says despite these statistics the city will not permanently close the park, “well we’re not looking at getting rid of the skateboard park, kids do need a place where they can go for recreational entertainment. We don’t have anything else besides a public library or the cinemas for kids to actually go hang out.”
The city has instead purchased a camera system in hopes of deterring any illegal activity. “We’re hoping that will help curtail some of the vandalism problems where we can actually go back and find out whose doing it,” says Lt. Dean.
Those cameras are expected to be up and running by the end of January.
Some skaters KION spoke with today say they were not surprised about the closures, but are not sure the cameras will solve all of the problems. “Ya i think it might make them stop just like a little bit but it the long run, like it’s a skate park, there’s no way to really stop that from happening. It’s public and people are gonna come here and do that,” says skater Wyatt Brown.
The skate park is expected to be open Saturday at 8 A.M.
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A skate park in Scotts Valley has once again been vandalized causing the city to shut it down.
Scotts Valley Police said “due to ongoing vandalism and destruction of city property, the skate park will be closed for 48 hours.”
The parks closure began on Thursday (12/28) after trash was spread all over the skate park located at 361 Kings Village Road.
The skate park has been closed four times this year due to different types of vandalism. In the past, people have ripped the bars off the fence around the skate park and tagged the property.
Police said the Skypark location is the most heavily patrolled area in the city. Officers have responded to 440 calls at the skate park this year.
Some members of the community said they want the city to install security cameras to try and catch the vandals in the act.
KION’s Ashley Keehn will have more on what police are doing to prevent vandalism at the skate park at 5 and 6 p.m.
