SHARE THIS

Only one swing remains at West Easton’s largest park following incidents of vandalism that have occurred over the past months.

The damage to equipment is only part of the problem, as broken glass has been found at the base of slides and on the basketball court.

While the Road Dept., that maintains the borough’s properties, has been directed to check the parks and play areas every morning for what appears to be intentional attempts to injure children, little can be done at the moment to prevent the damage to the equipment, itself.

The damage seems to be occurring after dark and with school out, local communities are seeing a rise in random vandalism, including the spray painting of cars, fences, and other property.

The red tire swing, seen in the picture above, was broken a couple of months ago and had to be removed. Following the installation of a toddler and standard swing to the yellow framed equipment (on the left side of the picture above), the toddler swing had one of its chain hooks removed.

Road Dept. Supervisor, Dane Thatcher, is looking into having a proper replacement hook fabricated and re-installed into the toddler seat, rather than replacing the seat that costs well over $200.

One suggestion to deter the vandalism is the installation of security cameras at the park. The 24/7 system would be based inside the old pavilion building with a DVR recording from multiple cameras. Signs would be posted notifying visitors that the park is under video surveillance.

Once the West Easton Police Department becomes active our existing curfew ordinance will be strictly enforced.

UPDATE 6/26/19: The child swing has been re-installed.