Skate parks left hanging?

Chronic vandalism and misbehavior at skateboard parks, an increasing problem in the region, have officials in at least one town considering some unusual measures: Should young skateboarders who don't wear helmets be fined? How about impounding their skateboards to force compliance? Should surveillance cameras be installed to keep an eye on park users?

In a few towns, officials have given up on enforcement and simply shut down their facilit ies. Norwood recently closed its park for good because of vandalism. The equipment has been dismantled and will be used at a new YMCA being built in town.

It's not an uncommon issue. Roughly one out of every three towns in this area has a skate park . Towns of all sizes -- from Quincy to Lakeville -- have built the facilities, seeing them as a good investment in keeping area youth occupied and off the streets. And new parks continue to be added; Whitman is hoping to open one by this fall.

But the case of East Bridgewater's $100,000 Skylur Spagone Memorial Skate Park -- built by volunteers two years ago in memory of a toddler who drowned in a pool accident -- reflects some town officials' frustration with skater scofflaws.

Police have shut the park frequently since its grand opening, mostly because of complaints about litter, vandalism, and violations of posted rules. The park is now going into its third week of being closed while officials consider solutions to its ongoing problems.

Frustration has turned to anger for the father of the child for whom the park is named.

``Several businesses in that area gave us a lot of support when we were building the park, and now it's an eyesore in their neighborhood," said Peter Spagone Jr., who heads the Skylur Spagone Foundation, established in memory of his 2-year-old daughter.

Spagone said he is angry and discouraged over chronic difficulties. ``We have endlessly tried to find a way to get these children to follow a few rules," he said. ``And I'm hard-pressed to understand why the parents aren't instructing them at home. . . . The rules say you wear a helmet, yet you go there and see 20 kids with no helmets. . . . If you can't read the signs posted with the rules, maybe you should be in summer school."

The park, located on Route 18 next to the fire station, is used by bike riders, inline skaters, and skateboarders. It was built as a joint effort between the East Bridgewater Community Drug Council and the Skylur Spagone Foundation .

Spagone said he may suggest installing a camera surveillance system at the park, which could then be monitored by the police or fire departments, since both stations are close by. But that would require considerable money. Recent damage to fencing at the park already cost the Community Drug Council $300 , money that would have otherwise gone toward new equipment.

``If it reaches a point where it hurts our fund and prevents other projects, we'll have to shut the park down," Spagone said.

Police Sergeant Scott Allen , chairman of the East Bridgewater Community Drug Council , said vandalism is a criminal offense and if the culprits are found, they will be charged. But Allen said police are even more concerned about the consistent failure of bikers, skaters, and rollerbladers to comply with the 2004 law requiring everyone under 16 to wear a helmet.

``Two-thirds of the kids at the park are not wearing helmets," Allen said. Because the state law contains no penalties, Allen is considering enforcement with a local bylaw.

``I've been searching the Internet for bylaws from New York to California," Allen said. He said he might suggest a written warning for the first violation, a $25 fine for a second, and impoundment of the violator's equipment for a third. ``With the fines, I would like to hold the parent or guardian responsible as well."

There is a precedent in Massachusetts for such fines. Danvers has an ordinance that allows police to impound the equipment of a skateboarder or inline skater without a helmet for up to 15 days for a second offense; and to fine the violator $20 and impound the equipment for 30 days for a third offense. Further offenses result in $50 fines.

Terence Burke , special assistant for communications in the state attorney general's office, said that if such fines were in the form of a bylaw, they might be shot down on grounds they exceed authority.

The attorney general's office nixed a similar bylaw proposal from Southbridge in 2003 , saying impoundment ``exceeds the authority given to the town under the laws and constitution of the Commonwealth." But a local ordinance or regulation, such as one in Danvers , does not require a review, he said.

Whether a local enforcement effort is wise is up for debate. Scituate Police Officer Dom D'Arcangelo says it's not. ``Never make a rule you can't enforce," D'Arcangelo said. ``There is no way someone in my police department is going to go over there and check for helmets."

D'Arcangelo built the town's first skateboard park himself 12 years ago out of wood. It lasted about three months, he said, but has long since been replaced with a more permanent one. D'Arcangelo said keeping the skate park in good shape is a continuous challenge.

Scituate officials closed their skate park for three weeks last fall after youths from the nearby roller rink wrote obscenities on equipment when the two groups were clashing, said D'Arcangelo .

``The problem is, it's such a transient group using the park," he said. ``You have kids who don't really have parental support. It's an ongoing chore to hit that balance where it's acceptable to the town, and filling a need for the kids and giving them a safe place."

In many towns, helmet enforcement is seen as something of a lost cause. ``We're too busy handling other calls to be checking for helmets," said Foxborough Police Sergeant John Chandler .

Plymouth Police Captain Michael Belmont said his officers are stretched too thin to do any skate park monitoring, despite some minor vandalism there. As for helmet use, he said, ``I've gone by there and people are wearing helmets, but I don't know the level of compliance."

There has not been a major effort to enforce the helmet law in Bridgewater. The same was true in Halifax.

Shawn Casey, a 15-year-old Carver resident, skateboards ``pretty much every day," he says, but he does not own a helmet. Casey said he did not realize state law requires someone his age to wear one, but the news didn't seem to faze him.

``I don't wear a helmet because I don't like them and they're not comfortable," he said. The majority of the older children using skate parks don't wear helmets, according to Casey.

``It's mostly just the little kids," he said. ``I think it should be up to the kids themselves whether they wear helmets. I've never fallen bad enough to make me want to wear one." He said he wears a helmet when he races BMX bikes at the Capeway racetrack in Middleborough because he is more likely to get seriously hurt doing that. It's also a requirement that is enforced.

Casey's friend Rich Confar , 14, also of Carver, is an avid skateboarder who owns a helmet as well as other protective gear. But he doesn't wear it, according to his mother, Judith. ``As a parent, you're concerned, but there's only so much you can do," she said.

Another friend, Chris Seeley, is 16, so he is beyond the age of the helmet requirement. He said he wouldn't wear one even if he weren't. And if officials start to enforce the helmet rule, Seeley said, he would find somewhere else to skateboard. ``I think it should be the kid's choice," he said. He and his friends skateboard mostly at the Plymouth and Middleborough parks, and they have never been hassled over a lack of helmets.

Alan Hoskin , manager of statistics for the National Safety Council , said information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission indicates that 112,000 injuries related to skateboarding were treated in emergency rooms nationwide in 2005. Of those, 8,600 were head injuries.

A few parks appear nearly problem-free. Marshfield's ``Uncle Bud" Skate Park is one. Signs cite the helmet requirement, and skaters without them are reminded by police, but no punitive action is taken.

``That law is still relatively new and isn't well known," said police Captain Al Knight . ``It probably needs to be publicized more."

For some towns, helmet enforcement is a minor problem compared with litter and vandalism. Bridgewater's park has periodically been closed for those reasons, including one incident in which benches and bleachers at adjacent ballfields were broken, bonfires built on the skateboard park, and profanities painted on the dugouts.

``It seems to go in cycles," said Bridgewater Recreation Commission chairman Tom Arrighi .

Casey said trash is a definitely more of a problem at some parks than at others. Plymouth, for example, is generally more trash-free than Middleborough, which is often inundated.

``I think the main reason people throw trash there is because there isn't a barrel inside," Casey said. ``You'd have to go outside the park to throw things away, and people won't do that."

Officials dismantled Norwood's skate park in May because vandalism there had become so severe. ``And it was not just the skate park itself but the entire [recreation] area," said recreation superintendent Jerry Miller. ``It was having an increasing negative effect on other activities. Our warnings were ignored, so we tore the park down."

Christine Wallgren can be reached at clwallgren@aol.com.