The weather is getting beautiful. Perfect for a weekend trip to one of the nearby parks in or near Williamson County. But how safe are these parks? Using information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation here is information on how much crime occurs in nearby parks, including Harpeth River State Park, Radnor Lake State Historic Area, Natchez Trace and Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Nashville.
We also talked to some local police departments, to get their take on local and county parks, and their safety.
“I would say that the parks in the City of Brentwood are very safe,” said Brentwood Assistant Chief of Police Thomas Walsh. “We have had a few minor incidents such as vandalism to park facilities and thefts from vehicles in the parking lots, but no serious or violent crimes.”
Walsh sent us information on the 164-acre Crockett Park at 15000 Volunteer Boulevard, which he said is one of the higher crime parks in Brentwood. Using the term higher crime, however, is only relative. The park is in absolute terms very, very low crime.
“This is a good indicator that Brentwood Parks are safe,” Walsh said.
These are the crimes reported or responded to by Brentwood police in Crockett Park in 2015 and so far in 2016:
05/26/15 Vehicle Burglary
08/23/15 Damage to Property (park gates forced open with vehicle)
09/19/15 Arrest for Public Intoxication
11/15/15 Vehicle Burglary
01/20/16 Vandalism (vehicle used to damage soccer fields – suspect stopped and arrested by BPD.
As for Spring Hill, Lieutenant Justin Whitwell filled us in:
“Luckily Spring Hill Parks have not had that much crime occur in them. We try very hard to keep a heavy presence around our parks to deter any criminal violations. This information is solely for business hours for our parks. We may every once in a while have suspicious vehicles in the parks at night, but they are checked out by our officers very quickly. We take pride in ensuring our parks are a safe place for our community to enjoy spending time with their families outdoors.”
In 2014, there were 7 arrests in the park, and 2 charges filed. They were theft from a motor vehicle and theft of motor vehicle parts. This could mean, for example, a car was broken into and the stereo stolen.
In 2014, David Crocket, in Lawrenceburg, had 2 arrests and 2 charges filed. Both were theft from a motor vehicle.
Harpeth River had 5 arrests with 8 charges filed. Four were for vandalism and destruction of property, one was for theft from a motor vehicle and three were for general theft.
10 arrests, 11 offenses. It breaks down as: 1 burglary, 1 vandalism, 2 aggravated assault, 1 simple, 3 thefts, 3 drug or drug paraphernalia,
5 arrests, 7 charges: 2 vandalism, 5 theft
1 arrest, 3 charges: vandalism and theft from vehicle.
1 offense (theft from car), 0 arrests
Higher crime parks:
Only a handful of the 51 state parks the TBI had information on in its report had more than 10 arrests or 10 offenses. Serious or violent crimes were practically non-existent, even in these (slightly) higher-crime parks.
Cumberland Trail: 20 offenses
Hiwassee: 18 offenses
Fall Creek Falls: 11 offenses
Harrison Bay: 10 offenses
Henry Horton: 10 offenses
Old Stone Fort: 15 offenses
Paris Landing: 11 arrests
Pickwick: 10 offenses
Rock Island: 19 arrests
Standing Stone 10
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