We’re talking real bad stuff. Like “skateboarding.” And “disruptive behavior,” which is no doubt due to the “alcohol and drug abuse” that’s been going on in downtown Bend.
So said new police Chief Jeff Sale to the City Council last Wednesday in a “Downtown Public Safety” update. Sale highlighted the above three activities as the force’s biggest public safety concerns.
I was shocked. Skateboarding in our town? I never… I may start looking into moving somewhere safer, like Oshkosh, Nebraska (seriously, follow the link. It looks/sounds very peaceful).
Yep, Oshkosh sounds safe. I bet there’s no skateboarding there.
I’ve got to get out of here.
photo: flickr via miggslives
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2011.
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I am sorry to hear that the new police chief put such modest wording in to his speech. Skate boarding is NOT what the problem is. I personally walked by a heroine sale in broad day light. Younger kids are getting older loitering people to purchase alcohol for them. Kids are openly smoking pot in the park and the police are there weekly taking reports of assaults and sexual misconduct. These kids are stealing,selling stolen goods climbing on top of business building’s roofs and causing damage. This has been an ongoing problem that has become very serious. I am not sure why no one is talking about it. I am a parent and I can tell you it’s the LAST place I want my teenagers “hanging out”. I have so much first hand knowledge of what’s going on there it makes me sick.
The new Chief says alcohol is a problem? When is the Dept going to start arresting people who are drunk in public? Bend is a haven for drunks because they know they won’t get arrested.
It might be in the way I read it, but it appears the article writer James Williams is being overly sarcastic. There are problems in downtown Bend and mocking the police chief only makes you look like an idiot Mr. Williams. Rather than taking the tone you did, why didn’t you highlight the problems as they truly exist.
Friends: Police Chief Jeff Sale is very aware of the real problems affecting Downtown Bend and Drake Park, as are we here at the Source. In the same department update Sale, who seems to have brought a new level of organization and innovation to the Bend Police Dept., noted that officers were running overtime operations downtown and focusing their efforts on the problem areas. Assaults, theft, heroin and other hard drugs – these are the things that demand the attention of our policemen. Not skateboarding. Thanks for reading.
if you don’t think Drake Park is a mess, you might want to take a trip down there to actually see it. I happened to be there a couple of weeks ago with my 2 year old and couldn’t believe how terrible the mouths were on the crowd of kids sitting down there. I asked a couple of them to “have some respect and watch their language around a little kid” only to see them slink back into their crowd and point fingers. We have a problem down there and it’s not skateboarding. Unfortunately, I avoid the area as much as possible just because of the crowd that the park has been attracting.
I have no problem with the kids making their own decisions for themselves (as horrible as they may be), I just don’t want other people to be hurt or bothered by their poor decisions. My kids don’t need to hear f-bombs yelled at others at 2 in the afternoon.
Seriously how can you have a problem with skateboarding? is it because that sport is mostly dominated by young adults. Maybe you shold move to a retirement community and stay home. Next you wilol start complaining abuot bike`s, yes the two and three wheel kind. Drugs do not lead to skateboarding. leave the kids alone or you will have some bigger problems.
This new ploice chief is an idiot, Skateboarding isn’t bad its actually a good healthy form of excercise, Maybe he should focus on the kids that hang out in the courtyard by the breezeway and leave a huge mess.
Great. This is just what skateboarding needs. More bad publicity stemmed by ignorance, closed mindedness, or just laziness to figure out what the real problem is. Drugs are a problem. I agree with everyone here. But ill tell you first hand a big part of the reason kids turn to drugs and alcohol is because of a lack of things to do, entertainment, stimulation. So build the kids a decent skatepark and actually take care of it unlike the abomination that is ponderosa that was horribly built and has just deteriorated over the years. Anyways that’s my rant. Don’t blame skateboarding for kids doing drugs or vandalism or whatever downtown. That’s ignorant. It’s a culture but what is it really? It’s a piece of wood with some skates strapped on it.
Wow. As a skater, this article really upsets me. How can somebody be ignorant enough to place skateboarding in a direct drug and alcohol issue. Seriously, has he not noticed the skateboarding is now a commercial sport, like tennis or foot ball or anything else. I am 23 years old and yes, I drink a few beers here and there, but so does a large majority of bend locals. I don’t spend my days being offensive and doing drugs in the park. Those kids bother me as much as anyone. I swear and skate and drink beers and yes, I don’t have any issues with the marijuana, but i am an adult and know that my lifestyle and my choice of words aren’t for everyone and should be kept to myself, especially in downtown bend where families bring their kids to spend nice days. These park rat kids are just a bunch of arrogant, rude and totally immature idiots who think they are cool and tough when they offend someone else. It isn’t okay that a “skateboard” sets you in the same group as fowl mouthed rude kids.