Harrison Parks Curfew Now in Effect

This ordinance was unanimously adopted and takes effect immediately.

The Harrison City Council voted unanimously on Thursday night to install a curfew at all city parks starting at 10:00 PM and going to 6:00 AM. This means that all parks’ facilities, except for the walking trials, will be closed to the public during that time span.

The ordinance was adopted using an emergency clause, meaning that the council decided not to wait for further public input but placed it on its required first, second, and third reading, by title only, and voted to make it effective immediately.

The discussion on the matter last nearly thirty minutes with input coming from the audience, multiple council members, Parks Director Chuck Eddington, Harrison Police Chief Chris Graddy, and Mayor Jerry Jackson.

Councilman Mitch Magness noted that he has received approximately 20 calls from constituents regarding the ongoing vandalism that has cost the city thousands of dollars in recent months.

Council members repeated multiple times that this is not intended to keep people from using the walking trials or even some park equipment at night. Magness said that the police force will have much of the discretion in determining whether someone needs to be removed from the park or not after the curfew time.  

“I understand no one likes to give discretion to the Police,” Magness said, “I have enough trust in them and the public to let us know if we have that problem.”

It was pointed out by a member of the public that there are currently signs that say “No Loitering” in the parks and the question was asked why the police can’t remove people based on those signs.

Harrison Police Chief Chris Graddy said that, without a curfew, if they approach someone who they suspect is going to vandalize something and ask what they are doing in the park all the person has to say is they are using the park. At that point it is not considered loitering, and the police can do nothing to remove them unless they are caught committing a crime. The curfew will give authority to the police to remove people from the park that may commit vandalism.

Examples of recent vandalism was asked for by members of the audience to which multiple incidents in the bathrooms near Wonder Willa Park, totaling approximately $5,000 was cited, as was the destruction of a certain piece of playground equipment in Wonder Willa Park, which was said to cost $7,500 to replace. Other examples were cited as well.

Mayor Jackson said that almost all the vandalism has been determined to occur at night. He added that the additions of cameras at the park has helped the police catch several vandals but since cameras can’t see inside the bathrooms much of the vandalism goes unpunished.

On Friday’s edition of “Around the Table” on The Original KHOZ Councilman Jeremy Ragland stated, “This is just another, to use and overused phrase, tool in the toolbox for the police to just give them a little bit to work with there.”

You can see the full City Council Meeting on the Hometown TV's Facebook page by clicking here. The parks discussion begins at the 1:45:40 mark.

Check out Jeremy Ragland’s Comments on “Around the Table” below.