Sex, Drug Activity Prompts Call To Close Park At Night

Two Seattle police officers have told Seattle Parks and Recreation commissioners that homosexual activity at night in Volunteer Park has become such a nuisance that they should consider shutting down the park between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Sgt. Sim Tamayo of the East Precinct said illegal activities at Volunteer Park range from sex offenses and robberies to drug dealing and vandalism. But homosexual encounters - often witnessed by patrol officers - are the biggest problem, Tamayo said.

East Precinct Officer Walter Furler, who walks the Volunteer Park beat every night, told the board, ``I counted 46 condoms on the ground last night.''

The recommendation that the present closure of the park's parking lot at midnight be extended to a parkwide closure came after a lengthy recitation of problems at various city parks.

Toni Long, director of facilities maintenance for the Park Department, told the board that citizens deserve ``a safe park system,'' that closures are undertaken only as a last resort - to curb gang activity, blatant drug dealing and loud noises that disturb a neighborhood.

Among the ways the department has cut down on illegal activities at parks, she said, are to trim hedges and underbrush to eliminate hiding places, close restrooms after dark (in 19 parks), post anti-cruising signs (at Alki), ban alcoholic beverages and loud noises, restrict nighttime parking at parks along Lake Washington Boulevard and

either remove public telephones or restrict them to outgoing calls.

Bill Mayberry, the Park Department's chief of security, told commissioners that with 388 parks to patrol and only a handful of security officers, it is impossible to pay daily visits to Volunteer Park.

Jenny Peterson, editor of the Gay/Lesbian Guide magazine in Seattle, said after the meeting that she agrees ``parks should not have to put up with rubbish of any sort,'' and that includes condoms. But she cautioned against using homosexual activity as the excuse for closing the park at night ``when the gay-bashing that goes on there is equally bad news.''

In October, Furler said, 19 citations were issued for illegal activity in Volunteer Park, and in November, 10 citations were issued. Most were for ``public indecency'' or drugs. There were several assaults, ``mostly by young men who want to bash gays.''

``We only issue citations for things that will hold up in court,'' said Furler. ``There were a lot more illegal acts than that.''

Furler showed photographs of condom-littered ground and of young men, startled by a flash camera, engaging in sex acts.

In summer, Tamayo added, illegal activities in the park ``go through the roof.''

Furler told the commissioners he thought the men's restroom next to the reservoir should be closed at night because it's a place where drug deals and sexual liaisons are set up.

Furler said those who live near Volunteer Park complain that when the park's parking lot is shut down for the night, men park their cars in the streets and engage in sex in the cars ``or even in the streets.''

A young woman who works in the area as a nanny said she no longer will take children into the park ``because of what they find on the ground.''

Holly Miller, Park Department superintendent, said there has been considerable improvement in safety and cleanliness in the park's children's area since hedges were trimmed. She promised further recommendations after studying the problem.