minps 04-19-21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHAT I CAN CONCLUDE SO FAR: The removal of the hoops have targeted and punished our active and healthy youth that have been happily using this court for the past 3 years. Otherwise, the adjacent soccer field and/or baseball field would be closed too (which we do not want to happen). WHAT I'D LIKE TO HAVE ADDRESSED: 1) Caution tape or another obstruction would have communicated a "temporary" closure. Physically disassembling the hoops was a harsh message that seems more permanent. Can we get a specific date when the hoops will be up? The weather is warming up fast! 2) Can we explore alternative solutions (e.g. paid chaperone just like we have at Lakewood Park)? 3) Why basketball? Can we get a clear confirmation from the police chief that this was not a kneejerk reaction to quell the flood of racist rhetoric that targeted the hoops on social media? Mary Havran Location: Submitted At: 5:37pm 04-18-21 The park may be a little small to give the basketball court the space it needs for people waiting to play. They should not have to be waiting in a busy parking lot. Tim Collingwood Location: Submitted At: 4:55pm 04-15-21 1 support measures which are outside of the realm of policing and surveillance that are evidence-based strategies that work.lt is bothering me that the basketball court in Madison Park is being blamed for the uptick in gun violence as if the patrons of that court are at fault for people running to guns to solve their problems instead of de- escalation techniques. And while the park needs more lighting regardless of the racism of surveillance, it just seems like that well is tapped too much and too frequently. The tapped well is now in the form of Safer Lakewood. While the city has an Anti-Racism Task Force now, I am concerned that the recent response from the city is backtracking the commitments it has made after May 20, 2020 in making the city of Lakewood a more welcoming city for diversity with a couple members of Council looking favorably on Safer Lakewood, unconscious of the racism of the name. This response does not seem tempered, and I would like a more tempered response that isn't amplifying systemic racism, and including the perceptions of Black and Brown residents of the city who do not feel comfortable speaking to the racism they experience in city limits, which Safer Lakewood is also insuring by its existence. Gun violence does need to be dealt with, but racism is not going to make it better. I won't feel safe in Lakewood until Black and Brown residents and their concerns regarding Madison Park and valid concerns about racism in city limits are addressed.