Safer Parks Come From Solutions, Not Citations

Winston-Salem’s Public Safety Committee pressed pause on new park rules this past week. That was the right call. Although the discussion lives on a public safety agenda now, the practical effect lands on people living outside. This is, at heart, a homelessness policy decision, so let’s choose strategies that actually reduce repeat calls and help people move from public space to stable homes.

The proposal would close parks at sunset, prohibit camping gear, restrict “large” belongings, and add licensing and location limits on panhandling. On paper, that might sound reasonable. In practice, it broadens enforcement from prohibiting sleeping to prohibiting the possession or setup of survival gear such as tents, sleeping bags, or a small cookstove, regardless of whether anyone is sleeping. The result is displacement rather than resolution: the issue moves from parks to sidewalks and adjoining commercial and residential properties, then into the courts, increasing trespass calls, enforcement load, and risk for all involved.

We already cite sleeping in public. Expanding to “camping” won’t build housing or prevent homelessness. It creates more churn: citations, then fines people can’t pay, then a failure to appear, then a warrant, then a short jail stay, and finally release with fewer belongings than before. The original issue of no lawful place to be during the day and nowhere to keep essential items waits for us tomorrow.

There’s also a real cost. Signage for the change is projected at around $75,000, followed by officer time, transports, booking, court dockets, public defense, property seizures, and sanitation cleanups, all of which we pay for, with no new housing at the end. For all that effort and expense, we’re still back where we started the next day. 

A word on the “large belongings” rule: kudos to council members who questioned equitable enforcement. If the standard isn’t crystal clear, do strollers or rolling carts get flagged? When your bags are your closet, vague standards invite conflict and costly mistakes, especially when IDs, medications, and documents get swept up. 

So what will actually make parks safer while reducing repeat calls? We could: 

1) Pilot a peer-support Park Ambassador team.
Staff predictable hours in priority parks with trained peers and supervisors focused on de-escalation, problem-solving, quick connections, and clear communication of park rules. Track results: fewer repeat calls, fewer citations, faster service connections.

2) Expand the City’s B.E.A.R. Team.
We already deploy behavioral-health responders. Grow the team, extend hours, and embed peer support so more non-violent quality-of-life calls (including in parks and downtown) get the right response the first time. We then offer housing navigation and behavioral-health help instead of tickets. 

3) Invest in housing and stability, not tickets.
Target flexible dollars to deeply affordable housing and support a Prevention & Housing Stability Fund for back rent, deposits, utility arrears, and reunification travel. This combination stops inflow and speeds outflow. Every household kept or placed is one fewer repeat call and one fewer conflict in public space.

4) Use existing laws for real harm.
We already have tools for assault, threats, dealing, weapons, and true obstruction. Apply those consistently without criminalizing housing status or survival.

Please keep the ordinance package on hold. Bring service providers, parks staff, business leaders, and faith partners to the table. Pilot ambassadors. Expand B.E.A.R. Pair that with targeted prevention and more deeply affordable housing options.  

We don’t have to move the problem around. We can solve it by meeting human needs and investing in what actually works.

Ruth Cole Burcaw is Executive Director of City with Dwellings, a nonprofit that cultivates a community of care so neighbors can move from trauma and homelessness to healing and housing stability.