PHOENIX — Fourteen new Phoenix park rangers will start patrolling the city's parks overnight in July, city officials said Friday.
Phoenix Parks and Recreation has not had overnight park patrols before now.
This week, the Phoenix City Council approved funding for the new night shift as part of the city budget.
It's welcome news to people living near some Phoenix parks that have had problems with trash, vagrancy, drugs and more in recent years.
“Nobody used this park before," Morgan Sailor said, standing near Perry Park. "It was not accessible. There were needles everywhere, people openly using drugs."
Perry Park was part of a pilot program using private security to patrol 12 city parks overnight. Sailor credits that enforcement with improving Perry Park dramatically.
“It's amazing what just a presence in a park, even coming through a few times a night," Sailor said. "What a difference that can make."
However, that pilot program is ending and will be replaced with the new night shift.
The new team of 14 rangers will patrol the city's 180 parks nightly.
A Parks and Recreation spokesman said the department is hiring for those open positions. The new rangers should start work in July.
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