Willow Glen Resident
News
Overgrown trees block streetlights, encouraging crime in park
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
Greater Gardner residents are concerned that untrimmed trees around Biebrach Park are casting unwanted shadows and inviting crime.
Residents have been working with the city of San Jose to have the trees around the perimeter of the park, particularly those between the park and the tot lot, trimmed back. They are so overgrown streetlights cannot filter through the thick foliage.
"It's a safety issue," said Gardner resident Robert Jones.
He said the lack of lighting near the park has made the area a haven for people looking for trouble.
Greater Gardner Coalition members expressed similar concerns with the escalation of criminal activity in the overgrown section of the park.
San Jose Police Department beat officer Jill Ferrante said those worries appeared justified when she told the coalition on Nov. 27 about the troubling activities that had transpired during the last month, which included a shooting involving rival gangs in the neighboring Washington community on the night of the meeting. The incident left one wounded gang member in the hospital. There are no suspects.
A second shooting, also gang-related, took place during the second week of November at Biebrach Park. This too left one gang member injured. A suspect in this case was caught.
A third case, on Oct. 25, was an attack on a 16-year-old boy. This occurred in the tot lot adjacent to Biebrach Park. The individuals involved are still at large.
Along with the gang violence, the unlit areas of the park have also attracted illegal consumption of alcohol.
"I have to go out in the mornings and pick up empty liquor bottles before they get broken and leave dangerous glass scattered," Jones told coalition members.
Police spokesman Nick Muyo agrees the dimly lit areas resulting from the overgrown trees contribute to the increase in delinquent activity around the park.
"Every dark alley, every dark park is a place for people to hide and a place where a victim can be attacked," Muyo said.
Along with the violence, there have been curfew issues in the same location. Ferrante said she and other beat officers had given out 16 citations to minors for curfew violations at the park.
The curfew in San Jose states minors cannot be out between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. if they are under the age of 15. Minors under the age of 18 cannot be out between 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Some exceptions to the citywide ordinance include minors going to or from work, coming from a school function, or with a note from their parents.
Offenders are taken to a curfew center--a converted mobile command van--where they will undergo a standard background check for any outstanding warrants or possible parole violation and their parents will get a call to pick their child up. Citations are issued at the discretion of the officer.
Before any of these problems began, Jones and other residents were pressing the city to do something about the trees. San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department had not been able to address the problem as quickly as the residents would like due to budgetary issues. This has slowed the annual tree-trimming process, said San Jose acting parks manager Mike Will.
The meeting, however, was the first time Will was made aware of the safety issues connected to the untrimmed trees, he said.
"I am working to try to expedite the trimming of this particular park's trees," Will said.
At the tot lot, branches that had grown in front of the lights have already been trimmed, Will said, but residents want all the trees around the park thinned out to allow more light to go through them.
According to the current schedule, the trees at Biebrach were to be trimmed between now and January, but because these safety issues were brought up, San Jose Park Maintenance Supervisor Lori Jones said the city would trim the trees back as of Dec. 4.
