Pasco staff recommend park bathroom camera pilot, seek roughly $100,000 amendment

City parks staff recommended a mixed approach to deter vandalism and misuse in park restrooms: stationary cameras at the most-affected sites and at least one mobile "camera on wheels" to redeploy where trends show problems. Parks and Recreation Director Angela Pashawn said the city is "now approaching a 100 vandalism related work orders in our parks alone," and staff described both vendor and in-house options for mobile surveillance.

Council members and the police chief discussed timing and effectiveness. Police Chief Hood referenced Spokane Countyprograms, saying their mobile units started small and have shown good success in locations that were struggling. Council expressed support for piloting the approach and preparing for next season, and staff said they would return with a budget amendment estimated at approximately $100,000 for implementation and testing.

Why this matters: park restroom vandalism has created repeated closures and service disruptions at several sites; staff emphasized a pilot to test technology integration with existing city systems before wider rollout. Council asked staff to prepare cost and timing details and to consider staging purchases so the program is operational before the next peak season.