The infrared sensors detect any motion in the park after it closes at 10 p.m. If someone should walk into the park, 1500-watt light bulbs turn on, and a silent alarm notifies park rangers. But the sensors have detected intruders infrequently in the past seven years, according to Park Development Manager George Balteria. The mobile remote-operated camera has been deployed only once, when it was used in an unsuccessful effort to catch a graffiti artist.
According to Scott Reese, Glendale's former assistant director of parks, Palmer Park has not had to deploy its technological defenses, thanks to such features as an 8-foot-tall iron fence that surrounds the park, the visibility of the park from surrounding areas and the proximity of the park's main activity areas to its entrance gates. "Bad guys don't like to be where good guys are," Reese says.
Although high-tech equipment has been of limited use in Palmer Park, Reese says monitoring equipment might be the most effective way for some communities to keep their parks safe. And Palmer Park is ready should the future demand a higher level of security: Inconspicuously placed bollards are in place so that if the city wants to install cameras at a later date it will be able to do so.
