The city of Starkville is considering beefing up security measures at its parks after a vandalism incident at J.L. King Park over the weekend.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said a bathroom near the splash pad was damaged, with visible breaks in the outside walls of the building. Spruill said she was riding around Sunday when a man who cleans the park showed it to him.
“I was just looking at the splash pad and wondering when we’d open it up, when he asked if I had seen the damage,” she said. “So I went over, took pictures, and we cleaned it up.”
Spruill submitted a report to Starkville Police Department, but said she hadn’t heard anything back as of Monday morning. She added she suspects children may have been behind the damage.
Even so, she said she’s begun talking to Interim Parks and Recreation Director Gerry Logan about possible security cameras.
“We spent a lot of money on those buildings, and I hate to see taxpayer dollars wasted,” Spruill said. “That, plus the fact that we want people to secure in the parks. If it takes security cameras so we can follow up and discourage this behavior, that’s one of the things we’ll have to consider doing.”
Logan said his department still has to asses the damage to determine costs and if repairs can be handled in-house.
“It’s one of the first instances we’ve had of vandalism like that in a while,” Logan said. “We’re just going to see what we can do on the prevention side, and obviously encourage anyone who knows anything to report it to the Starkville police. We need as many eyes as we can to prevent something like that.”
Spruill said it’s too early to know if cameras will require direct approval from the board of aldermen, and it will depend on if they require additional funding or can fit into the Parks Department’s budget. She said the city, should it choose to move ahead with cameras at multiple parks, will also have to consider installing them in phases or all at once.
The incident is a frustrating one, Spruill said, but she said it may provide an inflection point to help encourage residents to report future instances.
“It’s disappointing and it’s sad and frustrating, because you want your parks to be places where people feel comfortable and safe, and there’s no problems with respecting the public dollar and environment,” she said. “I’m hoping we can alert people and cause them to think a little differently and encourage them to report things they’ve seen or heard.”
Starkville Police Department did not respond to calls for comment by press time Monday.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131 or Golden Triangle Crimestoppers at 1-800-530-7151.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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