Park Rangers Set Their Sights on Carrying Guns

City park rangers, who say they increasingly encounter armed thugs and gunplay as they make their daily rounds, are mounting an aggressive campaign to carry the same 9-millimeter handguns used by Los Angeles police.

Many rangers--who receive law enforcement training and have peace officer status--say their standard-issue baton, pepper spray and handcuffs leave them helpless against the growing dangers of patrolling the city’s 350 parks.

“We’ve had hundreds of incidents where we’ve taken guns or had guns pulled on us,” said Park Ranger Joe Tafoya, who patrols mostly in the San Fernando Valley. “We’re doing the job of police officers in the city parks but for some reason our department says we will do it unarmed.”

Arming rangers is a complicated decision for the city Department of Recreation and Parks and ultimately the City Council. Guns would dramatically change the image of rangers, known more for leading nature hikes than for engaging in gunfights. Some in the department are asking whether the weapons would increase the potential for violent confrontations.

“I think there’s a risk factor for the rangers, for the recreation staff, for the maintenance workers,” said Steve Klippel, the assistant general manager of the city Department of Recreation and Parks who oversees the rangers. “ . . . But I don’t think they’re hampered at all by not having weapons.”

Top Los Angeles Police Department officials also oppose arming park rangers, adhering to an historic policy of “one city, one police department,” said LAPD Capt. Sandy Wasson, who oversees the department’s tactical planning section. Rangers now rely on LAPD officers for help when they are in danger.

“The general position of the Police Department is that we don’t want a lot of concurrent groups doing the same thing in the same area--all armed,” Wasson said.

Many rangers, however, said guns are a necessary addition to their Sam Browne belts. The ranger’s union, Local 347 of the Service Employees International Union, is promoting the issue in City Hall in response to members’ concerns. “We’re not asking to become an aggressive law enforcement agency,” said Doug Kilpatrick, a Griffith Park ranger and union representative. “We’re asking for what we perceive as a safety tool. We see it no differently than a construction worker asking for a hard hat.”

The debate over arming Los Angeles park rangers comes as the force is being expanded from 30 to 42 sworn officers, in part to cope with a growing demand for park protection. The issue is scheduled to begin review by the City Council’s public safety committee next month.

City park rangers attend the Rio Hondo Academy as part of their overall training and receive the same law enforcement instruction provided to many city police forces, such Burbank’s and Glendale’s. The course includes more than 60 hours of firearms training. Additional instruction will be required if city park rangers get approval to carry weapons.

Between 1991 and 1994, rangers stopped more than 500 people with weapons, according to the rangers’ union. During that period, rangers logged nearly 2,400 incidents citywide involving drugs in the parks and an additional 23,000 reports of gang activity.

City rangers are empowered to arrest suspects, write police reports, handle follow-up investigations and refer cases to prosecutors.

Of course, they also lead morning hikes and provide interpretive programs for children.

To some, the dual role of naturalist and officer makes sense.

“You can’t really be a naturalist . . . while your trees have graffiti all over them,” said Hector Hernandez, the city’s chief park ranger.

Park rangers are armed in nearby jurisdictions--including Burbank, Glendale and the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

Since getting guns, Los Angeles County park rangers are known informally as park police rather than park rangers, said Rod Cooper, the director of the county’s Parks and Recreation Department.

“I think we owe it to our park police to provide them training as certified police officers and provide them with the means necessary to protect themselves,” Cooper said. “It’s a two-sided situation. The role they play changes if they’re in a park and a little kid comes up saying they’re lost than when a gangbanger does a drive-by.”

Russ Hauck, the park ranger supervisor in Glendale, said: “Everyone thinks . . . the minute you strap on a gun, everything changes. That’s not true at all. You don’t become John Wayne.”

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who heads the council’s Public Safety Committee that will give the issue its first airing, favors an alternative park protection plan over arming rangers. She would like to see the LAPD create a special park security unit to enforce laws.

“My preference would be to create a way to have safety in the parks for the community and for the city employees while not creating one more armed policing entity in the city,” Chick said.

Some rangers also worry about carrying weapons. Union activists say a handful would prefer not to be armed--a decision the union would support.

But other officials, such as City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., view the rangers’ duties as mostly police work. Svorinich wrote the motion last year seeking council approval to arm the rangers. The union members’ activism on the issue has pushed it to the forefront of council committee discussion.

“I’m sure the park rangers don’t have many individuals coming up to them saying, ‘Good morning, Mr. park ranger, sir,’ ” Svorinich said. “The L.A. park rangers are dealing with more nefarious individuals than Yogi Bear.”

Ranger Charles Shorts, wearing his brown uniform and bulletproof vest, said he realized the importance of being armed after a confrontation with a group of trespassing youths carrying weapons.

“It was a scary situation,” said Shorts, a Griffith Park ranger for more than eight years. “What we’re dealing with is different than it used to be--more loiterers, drinkers and gangs.”

Tafoya described a recent confrontation in which a Valley gang member pulled a 9-millimeter handgun out of his waistband and said: “Don’t you wish you had one of these, ranger?” The incident ended peacefully, when Tafoya moved to arrest the youth and he surrendered the gun.

Sprinkled in the rangers’ daily logs are reports of confiscated weapons and confrontations with drunk or hostile youths: A ranger chasing a motorist in Griffith Park was able to pull the man over--and found a loaded handgun in the front seat.

In another case, two rangers were called to Costello Park to break up a dispute between rival gangs. Then gang members began shooting at one another from opposite sides of the park using semiautomatic handguns.

The dangers facing unarmed rangers also scare their families.

“This is a job my husband has wanted to do since he was a little boy,” said Linda Tafoya, Joe’s wife, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child. “But parks have changed. It’s the 1990s and they’re asking these guys to go out and protect the city and they’re not protected themselves.”

Rosie Hernandez, whose husband, Paul, has been a ranger for 10 years, added: “I’m afraid I’ll get a knock at the door one night. . . . It scares me.”