Solving For Vandalism

Park leaders tackle an inevitable problem with proactive solutions

By Jefferey Spivey
Photos: Courtesy Of Hawaii DLNR

Many park-maintenance duties are of the standard variety. Repair needs surface after inclement weather, trails degrade from prolonged, heavy use, historic sites require more care with age, and the list goes on. Some wear and tear is to be expected. But in parks across the country, damage isn’t always a natural occurrence.

“I’ve only been in this position for two years, but [vandalism] has been an issue since I have been here,” says Jake Klingforth, Park and Building Superintendent for Wisconsin Rapids Parks and Recreation in Wisconsin.

Frequent targets are the skate park and aquatic center, which are housed within a larger recreation complex known as Witter Park. Graffiti has been common and often features language or images that are unsuitable. Klingforth has also seen graffiti on playgrounds alongside broken equipment and burned garbage cans.  

But perhaps park bathrooms have taken the most abuse—soap- and toilet-paper dispensers have been destroyed, toilets have been flooded, wall floodlights have been pulled down, bathroom partitions have been kicked in, and smoking policies have been violated. Additionally, nearby picnic tables have been damaged, defaced, and broken. The challenges are far and wide, but Klingforth isn’t alone.

In Brooklyn Park, Minn., larger, higher-use parks see more damage. But vandalism isn’t limited to the most popular locations.

“We have a lot of parks in Brooklyn Park that I would say are pretty secluded,” says Marcus Hill, the city’s Parks and Facilities Manager. Vandals take advantage of neighborhood parks where there are fewer visitors and a reduced police presence. So, all parks are vulnerable.

Besides the range of incidents in so many parks, complicating the matter are the times of the year when activity increases.

Summertime Damage, Ongoing Repairs

While keeping parks in working order is a year-round concern, there are times when visitor-inflicted damage is more common.

“Certainly from April through October, we had a fair amount of graffiti, vandalism,” says Brooklyn Park Recreation and Parks Director Brad Tullberg. “A lot of people are outdoors. A lot more things [are] happening outdoors.”

Tullberg says the expanded use of the city’s parks creates more opportunities for vandalism to happen, especially in more secluded areas.

Klingforth echoes this sentiment, adding that many of the incidents happen at night—a challenge many park systems are facing regardless of their size or location.

Across the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, caretakers report to work at 6:00 a.m. During the day visitors may report any damage, and those concerns are addressed in a timely fashion. But the caretakers are only on-site until 2:30 p.m.

“The problem is, after they leave, then we’re kind of stuck with no manpower,” says Eric Kato, Parks Program Manager for the Division of State Parks. After hours, visitors and residents are the eyes and ears of the parks, reporting incidents via email, to which the department responds accordingly the next business day.

“We have found that vandalism typically left unattended or [un]repaired sparks more vandalism,” Tullberg says. The process begins with assessing the repair workload and determining what steps must be taken to protect the visitor experience, be it pressure-washing graffiti on a fixture or removing a torched portable toilet. Afterward, the department partners with local law enforcement to find leads and possibly determine who’s responsible.

“Usually, cleanup is first and foremost,” Tullberg says. “And then what can we do for future prevention or intervention?”

Part of what enables the department’s quick response is the involvement of the public.

“Their parks are their parks,” Hill says of Brooklyn Park’s residents. “They will let us know if they see something right away, which helps us out a lot.” 

The same goes for Klingforth, who usually learns of vandalism from residents via phone calls or social-media posts. Klingforth’s team takes photos of the graffiti and then removes the markings or drawings. Klingforth says “a little elbow grease,” combined with graffiti remover, power-washing, or painting can do the job. In extreme cases, a sand blaster is necessary. If the graffiti is the same in more than one location, this helps authorities identify the culprit. For broken or stolen property, the department checks video surveillance first, then calls the police to ensure there’s a record of the incident.

For broken property, his team calls in vendors to make the fixes.

One important factor to consider in making repairs is the natural habitat. At Utah’s Zion National Park, specially trained rangers and park volunteers assess and fix the damage with care.

“If the damage resulted from paint or scratches on rocks, this could involve scrubbing, sanding, or other techniques that rehabilitate damaged areas and that protect the surrounding landscape, plants, and animals from harm,” says Zion National Park spokesperson Jonathan Shafer.

Kato shares this same attention to detail in order to safeguard the environment. One technique he uses for spray paint on rocks near the system’s waterfalls is adding additional spray paint to at least restore the natural aesthetic of the damaged structures. For example, if a vandal has used pink or white paint on a black rock, the team will find charcoal paint to cover it so it resembles the rock’s original look.

“It’s kind of a catch-22,” he says. “It’s hard to get chemicals close to the water. You don’t really solve it, but you try to make it better than what it looked like before.”

Undertaking this delicate work requires balance but also appropriate funding. Costs can vary greatly, based on the degree of damage. Tullberg says there’s a considerable cost-differentiation between pressure-washing spray paint on a piece of playground equipment and repainting the entire side of a building. But even if it takes a park keeper only one hour to remove graffiti, there’s still a greater cost.

“It’s an hour of one guy’s time, right? That sounds relatively easy, but that park keeper was also supposed to be doing something else,” he says. “It’s not like we’ve got guys just sitting around waiting for stuff to happen.”

Klingforth says that graffiti-removal costs can range from $100 to thousands of dollars. At Witter Park’s Aquatic Center, he has seen damage estimates in the thousands for this one site.  

To minimize costs, Kato chooses fixtures that are less expensive to replace. Many of the bathrooms across Hawaii’s parks use porcelain toilets and sinks, as opposed to stainless steel. He says the cost of toilets can average $300, and sinks go for $150. His team also handles many repairs internally to expedite the process, often by the next day, which avoids bringing in outside vendors.

Too, internal repairs can make a difference in dealing with some of the more-frequent damage. Quite frequently, visitors—some of whom are homeless—remove P-traps from bathroom sinks for faster, fuller access to running water.

“It just flows straight into the bucket. So, they keep the water in the bucket, then they take a shower with that,” Kato says. “Then after that, they don’t return the trap. They don’t put it back together.”

It’s a nuisance, but P-traps are a cheap item that can easily be replaced, compared to entire sinks or other complete fixtures. 

Costs aside, however, there are deeper challenges in managing vandalism.

Shifting From Repairing To Preventing

Vandals who are caught can face steep penalties.

Shafer says, “When we uncover evidence that someone may have intentionally damaged the park, we investigate it. This can result in criminal charges and fines of up to $5,000, six months in prison, or both.”

But holding vandals accountable is difficult.

“It’s rare that you find somebody that caused the damage,” Kato says. Even when someone is caught, repairs must be made long before the legal process can bring someone to justice. Plus, Kato adds, options are limited for tracking down violators. Cameras can be placed on the exterior of public bathrooms, but there’s no guarantee that a person seen entering or exiting is responsible for the damage.

Klingforth has seen occasional restitution through the Wood County court system. However, other punitive measures, like closing the skate park for a short period of time, punish not only the vandals but all users.

The unfortunate reality is parks departments will have to continue cleaning up vandalism as it occurs. Still, there’s a way forward that leans more heavily on proactive measures.

Both Kato and Klingforth have instituted practical solutions, like closing certain parks or amenities early to limit the potential for incidents. In Wisconsin Rapids, signage and additional cameras have also been helpful. And throughout Hawaii, controlling foot traffic has helped minimize the conditions that facilitate increased vandalism. At Diamond Head State Monument, for instance, higher entrance fees and a new reservation system have provided a better-quality visitor experience while limiting opportunities for destruction.

“When you have a well-traveled park,” Kato says, “you hardly see any type of vandalism.”

In Brooklyn Park, Hill’s department is creating more productive ways for residents to create public art. One example is a mural that’s being commissioned for a local skate park.

“That’s one way where folks want to use their creative graffiti talents. They [can] do it at one of our parks in a program that’s supervised,” Hill says. “So, we’re trying to take those incidents and turn [them] into something that they can use in a positive way.”

And both Hill and Tullberg stress the importance of creating a culture in which parks are respected and residents feel a sense of ownership. Through a full cycle of constant programming, fully invested residents, and youth outreach, parks can remain active, limiting both chances and reasons for vandalism.

“We start with a root-cause approach and really build those relationships and hope that pays dividends down the road,” Tullberg says.

Jefferey Spivey is a writer based in Urbandale, Iowa. Reach him at jeffereyspivey@gmail.com.