With the summer months fast approaching, New York State parks are preparing for what could be record crowds, but the union representing park police officers says there is a potential problem with big crowds. Zack Fink filed the following report.
As the weather gets warm, state parks welcome tens of millions of visitors.
There are 135 parks across the state, as well as 35 historical sites. The police responsible for patrolling and protecting these parks are doing it with just 240 officers. That's less than two per park on average.
"Well, civil service as of 2015 says our numbers should be at 387 statewide. So we are nowhere near that number," said Troy Caupain of the New York State Park Police Officers' Association.
Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a "New York Parks 2020 Plan," which commits nearly $1 billion to improve and modernize the state park system. Just this week, the governor announced a land acquisition to protect parkland in the Adirondacks.
"There has been no administration in modern political history that has been more committed to the north country and the park than this administration," Cuomo said.
And the public has been responding, with attendance steadily increasing at parks since Cuomo took office in 2011.
The union says the number of officers needs to keep pace with the crowds.
"It's tough to get our numbers where they should be, but in the short term, the governor's office should put some type of minimum coverage," Caupain said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for state parks says, "Park Police routinely partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to police large-scale events and respond to emergency. New Yorkers should be confident that their State Parks are safe and thoroughly policed.”
"A lot of our incidents, the things that we do as law enforcement, are not told to the public because it means little Johnny won't come play in the sand or Sally won't come play in the playground," Caupain said.
Peak season for parks is rapidly approaching, with the unofficial kickoff on Memorial Day weekend. Last year, 65 million people visited New York State parks, a new record.