Columbia considers cameras for ARC parking lot

Columbia Parks and Recreation administrators addressed security concerns at the Activity and Recreation Center after several cars in the parking lot were broken into on Wednesday.

“For someone to smash windows and do that in broad daylight and then take off – that’s the first time that’s happened for us,” Michael Griggs, director of Columbia Parks and Recreation, said.

Griggs said investigators suspect the thief could have been someone driving by looking for some quick cash.

Brianne Hunter’s car was parked at the ARC on Wednesday. The thief broke her window and stole her pocketbook out of her purse.

“Made no mention of any security cameras, so I feel like that needs to be addressed by the city,” Hunter said.

Griggs said the city is considering security cameras for the ARC parking lot, but the cost of high-quality video could be prohibitive.

“If we can put in cameras for a reasonable cost and makes our members feel safer, then I think that’s something we should do,” Griggs said.

Parks and Rec has seen car break-ins before. A few years ago, a thief was targeting cars parked at trailheads.

“So, we started patrolling that a little bit more and then had certainly seemed to stop; in fact, we ended up catching who we thought was doing a significant number of break-ins,” Griggs said.

A total of four cars were broken into at the ARC. A couple of hours later, several cars were broken into at Gold’s Gym.