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The City of Billings is hosting a series of podcasts to inform residents about the upcoming parks, recreation, and trails bond. Well-maintained and activated parks can contribute to public safety by reducing crime and deterring criminal activity. Chief Rich St. John emphasizes the importance of connecting children and youth with parks and recreation opportunities to minimize incidents of domestic violence and assault. Sergeant Nate West discusses the concept of SEPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) and how it can be applied to parks. The implementation of SEPTED principles, such as improving natural surveillance and adding lighting, can help deter criminal activity. The city is conducting evaluations of skate parks and off-limits parks to identify and address issues. The conversation also touches on the need for a jail expansion and the efforts to divert individuals from the justice system. The Parks and Rec department has been providing activities for youth, such as R you you all right hello and good Monday morning this is Victoria Hill the public information officer for the city of Billings and we're hosting a series of podcasts this week focused on the parks recreation and trails bond ballots are going to go out on the 18th so coming up here in two days and we want to go over a variety of topics to inform folks so they know what they're voting for they can make the best the best decision that they think what we should do next on this parks recreation and trails bond and so today we have two guests with us we have sergeant Nate West and there he is hello Nate and we also have Chief Rich St. John with us and he's here to answer some questions on public safety Nate's here to talk about the public CEPTED so crime prevention through environmental design and so let's go ahead and get started with some questions that we have first of all chief I want to know overall public safety how does public safety connect to our parks recreation and trails well-developed well-maintained and activated parks to public safety there are numerous studies that have taken place across the country with those results that show reduction in crime deterrence of crime in neighborhoods that are surrounded by well-maintained and well-developed and used parks and so really the message is very simple is that we're struggling with with some crime issues here and one of the strategic objectives that we have at the police department is to try to alleviate some of our jail issues by getting people deferred and directed out of the justice system and one of the best ways to do that is through the well-developed parks so on that end of it that's where the correlation is and I also wanted to hit on this this concept of connecting children and our youth with parks and recreation opportunities and excuse me how that will have an impact if not immediate then later on down the line with domestic violence minimize those incidents and our crime at least on the assault side would just drop off the table and so you know certainly we need to break that cycle and one way to do that is to engage the youth of our community with programs with facilities things that are going to really occupy them in positive ways not you know running around at night without supervision because that as we know nothing good comes of that and I believe some pretty serious incidents have come out of just that situation. Yeah that's true and now let's move over to the SEPTED conversation with Sergeant West and talking about just give us a brief overview of what SEPTED is first of all. SEPTED has been around for a while. It's not the only law enforcement that is in our community. So a group of not just police personnel but people from around city departments got to go through SEPTED training about six months ago and it kind of really opened our eyes and started planning of how we could use this in our community. So we actually put together a committee. It's made up of multiple departments throughout our city and ultimately we're kind of starting to plan how we're going to implement that into our community. And let's talk about the SEPTED principles because if this bond passes then each of the project sites will be built with SEPTED principles. So let's talk about what those principles are. Right. So we're talking about natural surveillance and that's a big deterrent is whether law enforcement driving by and we'll just talk about parks because that's what we're talking about. So law enforcement driving by and being able to see criminal activity or even people citizens in that neighborhood able to see that park and we can do that by cleaning up trees, shrubs. And one of the biggest problems that all of our parks have in our city is lack of lighting. So if you go out after dark and you drive around these parks they're beautiful in the daytime but at night they're completely dark which invites criminal activity even though they can't be seen. Right. And we have for anyone watching on Facebook Live we do have an example on the screen right now. This photo was taken at North Park and we have one of the picnic shelters there. It does a comparison of before lighting and then after lighting and applying those SEPTED principles. So that's just one example of the difference that people can expect to see around our parks. Do you have any other things in the works Sergeant West to apply SEPTED to our parks as of right now? So actually tomorrow or Wednesday this week myself and Nick Miller from Parks we're going out and we're going to do evaluations on the skate parks and then we're going to do an evaluation on the off limits parks. And those are going to be our first evaluations that we go at to find what the problems are. And then we have an off and crime analyst with the city of Billings and we use her to pull numbers on these parks so we can actually focus on those problems that we have in those parks and guide how we're going to fix those problems. All right, well that's our conversation on public safety and SEPTED. Is there anything else either of you wanted to add or mention at all that folks should keep in mind or maybe realize that we have going on in our community when this applies to parks, recs, trails and public safety at all? Well I think one thing that needs to be pointed out is that when we look at the violence problem obviously just talking about Billings here, we need to look at it from a public health standpoint as well. I mean truly if we can get a handle on that we are presenting opportunities to find solutions to create healthy spaces for our citizens. And really that's what this initiative is all about. What Nate was referring to is really the nuts and bolts on how we get there to make those parks safe and make them easy for us or easier for us to police and get some social buy-in and stock from the community. People care about what the parks look like. It speaks volumes when you have facilities that are well-kept, well-maintained and well-used. And you mentioned the word getting there. People want answers now. They want solutions right now. But what is the reality when it comes to public safety and I mean getting there? Certainly. Parts apart, it took us 10 years of slowly getting where we were at to probably all time the worst numbers ever in 2020. And so with the implementation of not one but two safety levies we were able to apply resources and strategies which have systematically turned those numbers the other way. However, it's taken a couple years and we're not where we need to be yet. And so I think it's the same concept here. There's a lot of parks. There's a lot of projects. And there's a lot of overarching concerns about safety. So as we implement all the things that Nate's talking about and what the parks want to do with things, then we will slowly start seeing those improvements which are going to affect public safety to the positive. But it took a little while to get there. So it's going to take a little while to get where we want. And there's also questions right now around why the Parks, Recreation and Trails Bond right now when we have so much more going on in our community. And one of those talking points that people bring up is the jail. Why are we not investing in the jail? Well, partially the city just happens to be ready right now to pursue this Parks, Recreation and Trails Bond. And so, Chief, why not put our focus on the jail right now? Well, our focus is on the jail right now. And we are in very active conversations with our community partners, specifically the sheriff and the county commissioners looking for solutions. And, again, a big part of that is to divert people out of the justice system. And I want to make it very clear, and on the presentations that I've been on, that we definitely need a jail expansion. We are grossly under-jail-celled, if you will, for a community this size. And there are some really bad people doing bad things that need to be in jail. I will never discount that. However, one of the strategies is to keep people out of there that shouldn't be. We have people with co-occurring addiction issues, mental health, that are clogging up the system. Other agencies, Department of Corrections for the state of Montana has a fair number of inmates there. These are things that we can work on to reduce the capacity issues there. But the one big thing that we've always talked about is let's divert people out if we can. So, like I said, there's people that need to be there. But what we're looking at here are young families, kids, that if we can engage them early on, then we won't have to deal with them down the road, and that will help our issue with the jail. Bottom line, we need both at this point. And the way I look at it is it's almost like a puzzle piece. I mean, there's multiple parts to making a safe and healthy community, and so this would be one part or one piece that we are trying to tackle right now. And this past summer, Parks and Rec hosted for the first time Rec2U, so that did give kids some activities to do over the summer when otherwise they might be sitting home, playing video games, not being mobile. So that's one of the attempts that we're making to give the youth some options out there. So while we're having this conversation, Sergeant West, I also wanted to ask. We have people are questioning SEPTED and how helpful it could be to our community. So I know one of the questions I came across was, are some lights really going to stop people from doing something bad in a park or in the neighborhood? Yeah, so people, we have ordinances. People aren't supposed to be in the parks at night, but they know they can get in the parks. They know they're dark. They know that the police are busy, and they're going to go into parks and hang out and do criminal activity and more than likely get away with it. We spend some money. We make those parks well lit. When there's a neighbor in the area who sees something suspicious or maybe an officer driving by on his way to a call and sees people in the parks, he wouldn't know if they weren't well lit. He can stop and enforce that and get them out of there. And we had a conversation last week about SEPTED and building these things right off the bat. So if the bond passes and these plans come together with SEPTED in mind, it's more cost effective the first time around rather than building something and then trying to go back and build with SEPTED principles. Correct. We're talking about parks right now, but there are communities around the nation that actually have implemented this into their state codes. So when they start a building plan for a new building or a school, SEPTED principles are introduced to that to make it more safe from the get-go. Generally, there's not a bunch of extra cost that goes into it when you do it. It's part of your planning and development. So I can't say we're going to go that route. We've talked about it in our planning, but it would be more beneficial no longer. And we're talking about parks right now, but you can use it for businesses, you can use it for residential. So the concepts are beneficial and useful in every aspect of our community. Yeah. And, I mean, while we're chatting about SEPTED here, if there's somebody watching or listening that is interested in having maybe an expert come by and offer some guidance on SEPTED principles for their property, does the Crime Prevention Center offer that as an option? We do have some checklists, and we'd be more than happy to send somebody out and go over and answer questions so they can contact me here at the Crime Prevention Center. Okay. All right. Excellent. And I asked, Chief, anything else that comes to mind that you wanted to share with folks that you think is an important takeaway or something that they should have in mind? You know, we wouldn't be trying to use this if we didn't think it was going to be beneficial. I know the public perception in our community is that crime is out of control, and crime is here, it's going to stay here. And if you think about law enforcement or officers on patrol, they're out responding to calls, so they're being reactive to crime, right? Well, this is our opportunity to be proactive and try to prevent crime. Specifically around the nation, communities that have implemented SEPTED in their communities have seen a decrease in crime from 30% to 80% from the issues that they're trying to fix. So it's proven beneficial, and that's why we want to use it. All right. I know I've taken some steps at my home to include some more lighting that stays on overnight and clearing all the brush from back out behind the alley, because if you think of it, that really would give somebody an opportunity to hide and maybe do something that they're trying to hide from the public. So, again, the ballots will go out on October 18th. They are due by November 7th, so anyone watching this live stream, they have some details there on their screen. There are 16 different project locations, and the overall goal is to enhance the health and safety of Billings. And so we have projects just entirely across the city of Billings. And we're also going to have some more guests on this week. We have later today coming on, we have our city administrator and our finance director. We're going to have conversations about public health. We're going to have conversations about Parks and Rec themselves and the impact that it will have on business. And so if you're looking for any information, you can visit the website that's on the screen or scan the QR code. You can visit BillingsMT.gov slash Parks Bond 2023, and $143 million bond is the ask that you'll see on your ballot. Overall, it's $173 million in total projects, but with contributions from members of our community and organizations, we're able to bring that total down in the ask to $143 million. Well, I wanted to thank both of you for joining us today. And if you have any questions, anyone's watching this after the fact and has any questions, you can submit them in the comments section, or you can send a message to the inbox. You can visit the questions form on the Parks Bond webpage that we have and submit a question there, and we will get you an answer. Thank you so much for being here with us and listening and watching. And we'll catch you next time. Okay. Thank God. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you rolling with the bunches. Nobody commented. We're good. Yeah. Yeah, they usually wait until after. Well, and then last time we did this, I think maybe one question came through. On this topic? It was the last time I was in here with you and Matt. I think just a couple of days ago. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Well, thank you both for getting through this. Who's up next? We have Chris and Andy this afternoon. So, yeah. I think I'm going to stick around and figure this out a little more so I don't have to come to them like I helped you guys out, but. No, we're good. Thank you, Victoria. Yeah, thank you both. Appreciate it. They're not so locked into time as we are. Yeah, yeah.