Parks After Dark turns Los Angeles County parks into safe havens for communities

A Los Angeles County recreational program created stronger ties within communities, improved relations between the community and law enforcement officers, and decreased crime,  according to a report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The study also found that the program, called Parks After Dark, saved millions of dollars in policing and health care costs.The program was intended to make specific Los Angeles parks safer through positive community engagement by the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department, while providing wider access to free recreation, health and wellness programs. The effort, which was launched in 2010 as an anti-gang initiative by the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation, has focused on neighborhoods with high levels of gang activity and crime.The program provides recreational sports, classes on healthy eating and exercise, computer courses, concerts and movies, as well as health care and social services — including registration for the CalFresh food stamps program, mammograms, mental health assessments and other health screenings — on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from June through August.Parks After Dark expanded from three parks in its first year to 23 last summer, including in unincorporated communities of South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, Altadena, La Puente, Sylmar, Val Verde, Lake Los Angeles and Whittier.The UCLA report found that about 95 percent of people who participated in Parks After Dark programs in 2...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news