Austin City Council Passes a Curfew for City Parks and Trails

Austin City Council Passes a Curfew for City Parks and Trails

Austin City Council voted to end the 24-hour surveillance of city parks and trails and return to a citywide curfew starting midnight, Nov. 4.

The officers currently patrolling the parks afterhours will be returned to their previous stations in the community, said Veneza Bremner, APD senior officer. Until then, the parks and trails will remain open to the public at all times and will remain under 24-hour police surveillance.

The decision to return to the previously enforced curfew was made during the Austin City Council meeting Oct. 24. There was a great deal of confusion surrounding the proposed removal of APD District Representatives from their assigned neighborhoods. The relocation of DRs to provide 24-hour park patrol would be unfair to the rest of the community, as well as jeopardize their safety, said Johanne Barts, a community member who spoke at the meeting.

“How can you possibly not see the difference in spending a million dollars to service 10 people on trails at night versus allowing the APD to have their DRs out in our areas 

and protecting and assisting and helping the citizens to prevent crime… If they want to 

ride it, let them ride it without the protection if necessary,” said Barts.

APD and City Council members clarified that the DRs will not be removed from their assigned neighborhoods, but were notified as to where they would have been moved had the council ruled in favor of 24-hour patrol.

“We haven't gotten rid of any DRs… We have not withdrawn that notice pending the 

outcome of this item, but none have been moved… Outside of emergency operations 

we normally give our employees a 28-day notice consistent with contract when they're 

going to be moved,” said Art Acevedo, Austin Police Chief.

The curfew will be enforced by APD, and violators caught using the parks or trails after they are closed will be subject to legal consequences.

“The law states that the curfew is 10 p.m. Therefore, any cyclists found on the trails would be at risk of receiving either a warning or ticket for breaking curfew,” said City Council Member Mike Martinez.

However, the return to a citywide curfew has caused unrest among cyclists who use the trails at night to avoid drunk drivers and other perils they face when using Austin streets for transportation. There is an alternative to the curfew that would allow the parks to remain open at night without using unnecessary taxpayer dollars or sacrificing their safety. The DRs do not patrol neighborhood streets at all times, therefore 24-hour surveillance of parks and trails is unnecessary, said Roy Whaley, a citizen speaker at the meeting.

“And if the chief has concern about the outlaw population in our trail system, in our park 

system, then address that. Do not make us all outlaws. Address the trouble spots which 

they say they know,” said Whaley.

In addition, the study APD used to determine the number of officers needed to protect trail users during afterhours was revealed to be insufficient and inaccurate. The police chief admitted to formulating the average number of late night trail users by observing the trail for 10 minutes, and watching 10 cyclists ride by, said Whaley.

Although the council ruled in favor of the curfew, they did so out of financial necessity and a lack of a better alternative. City Council members were only given two options on which to vote: enforce a 10 p.m. curfew, or remove DRs from their neighborhood posts so they can patrol the parks and trails at night.

However, there may be an alternative proposition available in the future. There is an ongoing search for a solution that will protect the safety of both trail users and neighborhoods without compromising the security of either, said City Council Member Kathy Tovo.

“I believe we should regard trails as critical parts of our transportation infrastructure, and…I am hopeful that with some more time, we can achieve a solution that allows the trails to remain open with appropriate levels of police patrols but does not cost $1 million per year,” said Tovo.

Until a more efficient compromise is achieved, the curfew will remain in place and drivers are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings when using the streets.

“Our City has seen cyclist and motor vehicle fatalities increase over the past year, and these trails provided a safe alternative for late-night cyclists as opposed to the streets… I will always encourage our nighttime drivers to share the road with our cyclists, and to take caution to prevent any potential tragedies,” said Martinez.