Today, Aug. 24 2011, city employees from the City of Shasta Lake Public Works Department arrived at Claire Engle Park to unlock the skateboard park gates for the day’s use. Upon entering, they found considerable vandalism and graffiti.
Public Works has invested countless hours repairing vandalized property and painting over gang/local hate group “graffiti.” City of Shasta Lake Sheriff’s Department has spent hundreds of hours and utilized precious resource time taking vandalism calls and responding to assaults or substance abuse reports in the park area.
The city of Shasta Lake Municipal Code permits the closure of the park for exigent circumstances, such as excessive calls for service, violence, vandalism, etc. The park has only been closed two days prior to today, due to vandalism. Enforcement of the municipal code is being imposed in an attempt to encourage responsibility and ownership of the park by the BMX and skater groups. Up until this week, the calls for service had dropped off significantly, other than one incident of graffiti on the park band stage.
As a result of the recent increase in crime, the skate park will be closed until Monday August 28th. Subjects entering the skate park area while it is closed will be subject to citation or arrest.
-from press release
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
