Drug users and vagrants are being warned in a very round-about way to stop using children’s playgrounds as drug hangouts and toilets then disposing of their infectious needles under the monkey bars.
“Adults must be accompanied by a child in the Governor’s Park playground at all times,” warns one sign.
Yet Denver Parks and Recreation seems to feel really bad about it, and Deputy Manager Scott Gilmore tells Westword they will remove the signs from Governor’s and Sonny Lawson Parks if it offends the woke sign police.
The signs will stay up at Governor’s and Sonny Lawson parks “until we start seeing complaints about it or my lawyers tell me to take them down,” or if the public safety in those areas improves, Gilmore says.
On the one hand, the signs aren’t really enforceable anyway, Gilmore explained, before reversing himself in typical bureaucratize fashion and assuring the sign will be enforced if someone breaks the law.
Gilmore says park rangers are generally liberal about the guidelines and will only issue citations for illegal behavior. But Parks and Rec has the power to issue a temporary emergency order to enforce a sign’s rules if the department feels it’s necessary.
“Technically, it’s really not [enforceable]. If somebody is in there and they’re swinging or something, we’re not trying to keep people from having fun. If some people are on date night and they want to sit on the swing enjoying Governor’s Park, that’s totally fine. If someone is in there doing something illegal, though, we’ll enforce that,” Gilmore explains.
In other words, if you get caught doing drugs, littering, or taking a dump on a playground which last time we checked is still illegal, they will bust you for doing something illegal. Probably.