After a string of vandalism at two Redmond parks, upcoming upgrades to the city’s security camera system could help address public safety concerns.
On Thursday, the City of Redmond released photos of graffiti covering park benches, buildings, even playgrounds at Sam Johnson and American Legion Parks.
“It’s unfortunate because this is such a beautiful community and there are so many families. A lot of my friends have kids and these are places that we come in groups,” says Redmond resident Iyana Twenge. “We moved here to Redmond because we feel like it’s more family friendly and so an increase of vandalism, just makes it feel like there’s people are just targeting places that families frequent.”
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The graffiti removal costing the city $5,000 to $8,000 so far.
Last month, the Redmond city council approved a contract to install 97 new security cameras and upgrading some of its existing one.
Christian Armatas, an IT Specialist with the city says, “It’s going to give us great visibility across lots of different parks and facilities. It’s going to be lots of new cameras. Close to 100 or so. It’s going to be across our water wells, public parks and facilities and then just other city owned departments and buildings.”
Redmond Police Lt. Jesse Petersen adds the department is increasing patrols and asking the public to keep an eye out.
“So we’ve got to partner with the community and when we have quality of life issues, such as graffiti in the parks and what we had asked is everybody to be a really good witness,” says Petersen. “If you see something, say something.”
If you do see something, you can call Redmond Police or submit a report online.
