Chick, Feuer May Endorse Arming Park Rangers

A proposal to arm park rangers with handguns moved a step forward Monday when two of the three members of a Los Angeles City Council public safety committee said they are leaning toward endorsing the plan.

Los Angeles City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer chided LAPD officials for failing to more seriously deal with the safety concerns of rangers, who say they increasingly encounter armed thugs and gunplay at public recreation areas throughout the city.

The two council members urged that immediate action be taken to equip rangers with police radios as the first measure to ensure their safety. A proposal will be brought next week before the council’s budget and finance committee recommending the city allocate almost $29,000 to purchase 66 radios for the uniformed rangers who patrol the city’s 385 parks.

Chick, chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, expressed “major dismay” at the Police Department’s recommendation that park safety issues be studied further before any action is taken.

She called departmental delays that have postponed action for more than a year “mind-boggling” and vowed that a recommendation either for or against arming rangers will be made to the full City Council next month.

Chick urged police officials to cooperate with rangers and other city departments to work out a solution. Rangers and their union representatives have complained that they have been blocked from participating in discussions.

The rangers, who are routinely issued handcuffs and a baton, have mounted an aggressive campaign to be allowed to carry firearms, but police officials oppose extending that authority to yet another group of city employees.

Councilman Nate Holden, the third member of the council safety committee, said he opposes arming rangers because it could heighten danger to the rangers and park users and increase liabilities to the city. “Are you going to make them [thugs] shoot you? Are you going to shoot someone?” Holden asked rangers.

Deputy Police Chief Robert Gil told committee members Monday that preliminary studies of a proposal to establish an LAPD park patrol to handle criminal problems is not economically feasible and would greatly reduce police services elsewhere. Rather, he suggested curtailing the police image and authority of rangers to lower the risk of confrontations. For instance, he said uniforms and badges worn by rangers, as well as emergency lights on patrol cars, may too closely resemble policing equipment.

However, several rangers, their union representatives and leaders of homeowner groups endorsed the weapons proposal. Park Ranger Joe Tafoya, who patrols mostly in the San Fernando Valley, cited statistics indicating rangers dealt with more than 400 incidents involving weapons within three years.

“Arming rangers will not change our jobs,” Tafoya told the council committee. “Society has already done that.”