Lacey unveils ParkWatch volunteer program to gather real-time data and community observations

Scott Carter, parks maintenance supervisor, told the board on March 5 that the city will launch a ParkWatch volunteer program in 2025 to collect real-time data about park use, safety concerns and maintenance needs.

Carter said the program’s early goals are to recruit 12 volunteer contracts, record 600 volunteer hours in 2025 and hold four bi-monthly ParkWatch meetings. “Volunteering your time with Lacey Parks is a walk in the park,” Carter said as a recruitment tagline the program will use.

Volunteers will be trained to observe and report but not to enforce park rules or directly confront users; Carter said that choice was made for volunteer safety. Volunteers will not wear identifying ParkWatch T-shirts and will be taught to record observations (location, date/time, user counts and categories such as off-leash dogs, vending, sleeping in parks or drug activity) rather than intervene.

Carter said the program’s data dashboard will allow staff to filter by park, date range and time of day to identify patterns and hotspots. He said the program is modeled in part on Metro Parks Tacoma’s ParkWatch and that regular meetings with volunteers are intended to build community and surface issues not captured in routine datasets.

Board members asked whether collected data would be used to produce work plans or lead to operational change; Carter said the intent is to inform decision-making and that some changes may take time. Carter said an initial recruitment group of about eight volunteers will meet March 19 and that staff expect to expand participation through the year.

The program will be staffed and overseen by parks staff; data will be available to staff and shared with the board on request.