A member of the City reached out hoping to get a design for the brand new Park Ranger pilot program being launched in the summer of 2023.
The program, which is the first municipal program of its kind in Rhode Island, stems from a series of community meetings related to park use and safety that began last year, culminating in a Park Safety Report drafted by the Tree & Open Space Commission and presented to the City Council.
While the rangers will be a visible presence across the City, they will not be law enforcement officers. Rather, as part of the Department of Public Services, they’ll serve as ambassadors for the City with the stated goal of promoting positive uses in parks and building relationships with visitors.
They’ll also be keeping an eye out for potential problems such as unleashed dogs, noise violations, and illegal dumping, and will act as a conduit between the public and law enforcement should the need arise.
The initiative is modeled after other successful park ranger programs in communities such as Denver, CO and Salt Lake City, UT. Rangers will visit all parks, but will focus their efforts on the City’s most popular urban areas including Storer, King, Hunter, Miantonomi, and Vernon parks.