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San Clemente park rangers report high compliance, ask for vehicle public-address systems
Summary
Park Ranger supervisor Trevor Milosch told the Public Safety Committee that rangers averaged about 2,100 patrols per month, converted about 91% of witnessed violations into warnings or citations, and requested vehicle public-address systems and mobile radios.
Trevor Milosch, park ranger supervisor for the City of San Clemente, told the Public Safety Committee on June 24 that rangers logged about 2,100 patrols per month and average roughly 1,500 public contacts monthly.
Milosch said rangers addressed about 600 non-parking violations each month and issued about 20–25 parking citations per month. “We convert to a warning or a citation for 91% of the violations that we witness, which I think is pretty outstanding,” Milosch said.
Why it matters: the statistics show regular patrol coverage of beaches and parks and a heavy emphasis on education before enforcement. Committee members asked for operational details about storage and citation processing so they can advise the City Council on program needs.
Milosch described how the city handles unattended property: items that are soiled, damaged or clearly abandoned are disposed of immediately. Other property is placed in a storage container at the city yard and held for 90 days to allow owners to retrieve it; after 90 days items are disposed of. “We do have a large storage container in the city yard... If something ends up in there, it's stored for 90 days, to give the owner the ability to retrieve their property. And after 90 days, it's disposed of,” Milosch said.
Committee members asked what citations look like and what happens after one is issued. Milosch said rangers issue both administrative citations and misdemeanor criminal citations. Misdemeanor citations proceed through the criminal-court process and are prosecuted by the city attorney; administrative citations include payment instructions on the back and can be paid online or contested. “If you wish to contest it, there's instructions on how you can contest it. You have to respond within 10 days to ask for it to be reviewed. And then if you're not happy with the review, you can appeal for a hearing,” Milosch said.
Operational request: Milosch asked the committee to recommend that the city consider equipping ranger vehicles with public-address (PA) systems to help disperse large crowds, and noted that while rangers have handheld radios they do not have mobile radios in vehicles. “If I had to pick one thing, it'd be that,” he said.
The committee offered praise for the ranger program's outreach and enforcement balance and said it would consider recommending equipment needs to the City Council as part of upcoming budget discussions.
Ending: The committee moved on to other agenda items after thanking the rangers for the report and noting the equipment request would be flagged for follow-up with staff.
