The union representing the Parks Enforcement Patrol officers says policing city parks on Staten Island is made harder by a lack of manpower. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
There are 170 parks on Staten Island, and on a summer day, they're usually crowded with people. But on a recent afternoon visit to six island parks, what we didn't see was a single Parks Enforcement Patrol, or PEP, officer.
Residents say the unarmed officers are hard to come by.
"We see like one or two every now and then," said resident Maria Rodriguez.
Most PEP officers are reassigned from parks to city pools and beaches for the summer, but the union representing them says that plan puts park-goers at risk on Staten Island because of the thin staffing here to begin with.
The borough has just 25 PEP officers, the fewest of any borough. At any given time in the summer, at least half of them are working at pools or beaches. Add in time for days off and vacations, and PEP union president Joe Puleo says there is little coverage in a borough with so much green space.
"Having 20 people or so can't even scratch the surface," he said.
The union's concerns come at a time when its membership is dwindling. There were 450 PEP officers citywide 20 years ago. Today, that number is around 250 thanks to salary caps, attrition and plunging crime rates.
The Parks Department says more PEP officers simply aren't needed, and that the NYPD now takes the lead in policing city parks. But that doesn't sit well with Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates.
"Park enforcement are the only uniformed dedicated police force for the parks," Croft said. "It's as simple as that."
That's why Croft has written letters to the island's City Council members, asking them to push for more PEP officers.
Mid-island City Councilman Steve Matteo, the Republican minority leader of the Council, said money to hire more officers was included in budget negotiations, but ultimately, that funding was not granted.