AKRON, Ohio — Akron lawmakers are putting pressure on the city's parks and recreation department to require safety plans from event organizers wanting to use public parks.
The push behind the resolution, which passed unanimously Monday evening, is the violence that took place at parks over the summer, including children shot at a Juneteenth celebration and a pee wee football game.
Right now, to rent a public park in Akron, you have to apply for a community event permit.
Councilman Donnie Kammer's proposed resolution asks that the parks and recreation department add a section to the application requiring a safety plan.
"It puts more work and responsibility into the work of the community event applicants," he said. "It makes them step up more and consider how important our parks are and how important human life is."
The details of the plan's requirements are to be determined, but Kammer said it could include having to hire off-duty officers or private security, or having a table or tent available that provides first aid and safety information to guests.
The costs for these safety measures would fall on the event organizers.
Akron Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Clarence Tucker told 3News he likes the idea, but has questions.
"I think the conversation is absolutely overdue and is needed, but the question is you can't have one thing fit all sizes of events," he said. "For the larger events, then we can recommend some type of law enforcement there. For the smaller events, I think it's going to be counterproductive. We want people to be safe, but we also don't want to limit people's ability to have events."
How big is big enough to need security? It's one of many questions Tucker says he plans to ask both council and the public.
"Is 100 the right number?" he asked. "I think we need to have that discussion."
Tucker said he'll be reaching out to the Akron Council President very soon to start a more detailed conversation addressing those concerns.