Park Patrol hosts training session, continues search for park volunteers

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Park Patrol is looking for volunteers to help keep parks and trails clean and safe in Columbia.

Anyone who wants to volunteer must consent to a background check, interview with city staff and must complete a 30-minute video training session. Volunteers help patrol the MKT Trail, the Bear Creek Trail, the Grindstone Trail and any other parks within the area. 

Park Patrol hosted a training Tuesday night to inform potential volunteers of the roles they could play in helping to ensure safety on trails and parks. 

Volunteers monitor trails and parks in Columbia during the day. They also work to report anything that needs to be fixed to maintenance. 

"They serve as good-will ambassadors on our trails and in our parks... They help improve safety in our city facilities and in our parks and trails and then they also report maintenance issues," Neighborhood Services Manager Leigh Kottwitz said. 

Kottwitz said because they only serve as volunteers, they are not allowed to carry guns or use any type of force against anyone. Volunteers should call 311 or 911, depending on the circumstances. 

"We want them to through their presence, to send a message to anybody that might be conducting criminal activity that we have a team of volunteers that really care about these facilities," Kottwitz said. "They're keeping an eye on things."

While Kottwitz noted that she did not have any data to prove that an increased presence of these volunteers on trails helps to improve safety, she said volunteers have been told by trail users that they feel safer. 

"So they get a good response from other people, they can feel that through their interactions with other trail and park users that they're appreciated, that people feel safer out there," Kottwitz said. 

This comes after a man was recently arrested and charged in connection with an incident on the MKT Trail. Earlier this month, Michael Tyrone Council Jr., 30, was charged with attempted rape after allegedly trying to sexually assault two women walking on the trail.

Police say Council told them he tackled one of the women because he wanted to have intercourse with her. 

Around the same time, Jacob Beul was charged with first-degree attempted rape after allegedly trying to sexually assault a woman on a walking trail on Rainbow Drive in Jefferson City. 

Despite this incident, Kottwitz said volunteers do not typically deal with criminal incidents. 

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, and all volunteers can be identified by wearing an official park patrol t-shirt or vest. Kottwitz said the city had 22 volunteers in 2022.

Anyone interested in volunteering, can fill out an application online.