April 24, 2013
Park Ranger Vicente Harrison, 35, and his
patrol partner, Asa Arden, 34, start patrolling
at Waterfront Park, making their way to down­
town parks like Pettigrove and Lovejoy Foun­
tain, Caruthers and South Waterfront, Gov.
Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Ankeny Square
and finally the banks of the Vera Katz East
Esplanade.
Newly hired seasonal ranger Nico Mcafee,
31, a former pro- cyclist with a bachelor’s
degree in Criminal Justice from Portland State
University, is also along for the ride.
Around 8 a.m. on a drizzly Wednesday
morning, the rangers arrive to Waterfront
Park to find a man asleep in a sleeping bag—
a typical occurrence. The rangers nudge the
man, waking him and politely tell him he can ’ t
sleep in the park.
If a sleeping bag covers a person’s head
and body, this is considered camping and a
Title 20 violation.
The disgruntled man refuses to move and
threatens to go to sleep in the bike lane of
Naito Parkway if he can’t sleep in the park.
The rangers tell him this is an unsafe idea, but
he hops across the park in his sleeping bag
and lies down in the bike lane.
At this point, Harrison and Arden call the
police, as they are not permitted to put their
hands on the man. The police show up and
deal with the situation, finally persuading
the man to remove himself.
“Every day we see something new,” said
Harrison, who has a bachelor’s degree in
psychology from Concordia University. But
he says he enjoys interacting all of the differ­
ent personalities he meets daily.
Rangers do carry one weapon: pepper
spray, so if a situation out of their control,
they call the police.
Referring people to social services is also
common. If an intoxicated person needs to
be picked up, rangers call CHEERS. For a
repeat camper or homeless person, they will
notify homeless housing advocate JOIN,
while the mentally ill or drug addicted are
referred to other mental health or detox ser­
vices.
“Serving the less fortunate and guiding
them toward resources,” is one of the main
reasons Ranger Harrison said he loves his
job. In addition to serving the public from a
protection standpoint, he likes his role as a
goodwill ambassador and steward of parks
for visitors.
At each park, rangers make their rounds.
They are required to engage with people, to
see how they’re doing, and weed out those
who might be acting suspiciously. Trained
in special communication techniques like
verbal judo,” they approach and converse
with the array of people they encounter.
Ranger Arden, who doesn’t smoke, keeps
a pack of cigarettes in his pocket to offer to
someone who might be helpful for informa­
tion
The technique came in handy last summer
when Arden and another ranger stumbled on
the camp site o f rape suspect Kenneth
Wayne Couch, who attacked a woman the
day before in Forest Park. Buying time as
they notified police, Arden gave the man a
cigarette to calm him before authorities ar­
rived for the arrest.
If rangers notice someone violating a park
rule, they use what they call “ranger discre­
tion,” to decide whether or not the offender
deserves a written warning or the worst
outcome, a written exclusion from the park
for upwards of 30 days.
Portland Park Rangers keep a database of
people who have been written warnings or
Çortlanh (Observer
excluded from parks. If a person is caught
returning to the area within 30 days, they can
be charged with trespassing.
If a person isn’t doing anything wrong,
rangers record their interaction as a “posi­
tive” contact, different from an “educational”
contact, where a ranger may inform a visitor
unaware of a park rule.
For example, a ranger might let slide a
couple sharing a bottle of wine on Valentine’s
Day, but nail the guy who brings a bottle of
malt liquor everyday to the park to drink and
pass out.
A person walking their dog without a
leash is the most common violation of park
Page 5
rules, with homeless camping violations,
drinking, drug use and vandalism making up
other more serious concerns.
Arden, who worked for the U.S. Forest
Service as a Wilderness Ranger before re­
turning to school at Oregon State University
to study Recreation Resource Management,
said while dogs off leashes can frighten
visitors, it is also an environmental hazard.
According to a pamphlet rangers give
visitors, unleashed dogs can trample plants,
disturb bird breeding habitats and harass
wildlife. And dog poop, which is essentially
raw sewage, contains harmful organisms like
E. Coli, Leptospira and Roundworms.
Along the Waterfront, Rangers Harrison,
Arden and Mcafee ride their bikes down the
slick ramp to the docks surrounding New­
port Bay Restaurant.
Rangers are required to monitor boats that
may be illegally docked outside o f the nearby
marina. Those outside are deemed “tran­
sients” and are only allowed to tie up for four
hours in certain areas.
Harrison knocks loudly on a loitering sail
boat just outside Newport Bay, “Portland
Park Rangers open up!”No response. He
knocks again and makes another announce-
continued
on page 20
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