LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city of Louisville is prepared to hire its first park ranger a year after it began a pilot program at Iroquois Park aimed at improving safety in the city's public places.

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Tuesday that $300,000 from the budget will go toward a park ranger program, and the city is ready to hire its first senior park ranger.

"We all know how important our parks are to the people of Louisville," Greenberg said Tuesday.

This program is the result of months of collaboration between Louisville officials and cities like Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and even Saudi Arabia through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. The city of Louisville, its police department and various parks departments began a pilot program at Iroquois Park, which, officials said Tuesday, proved that park rangers need to be a priority going forward.

"We heard from our community that the top two reasons some people said they hesitated to use our parks was because of some concerns they had about safety and security," Greenberg said.

The initiative will reintroduce park rangers, who will help address these concerns. Rob Johnson, who served as one of the city's original park rangers in the 1970s, recalls the importance of the role. Back then, park rangers patrolled in green-painted police cars, offering assistance to visitors.

"Not only did I cover parks, (but) we covered community centers and swimming pools," Johnson said. "... giving them information or what part of the park they needed to be at for certain functions, just helping them and getting them along their way."

The new rangers will work alongside the Louisville Metro Police Department and other agencies as sworn public safety officers, with the authority to enforce both local and state laws.

The pilot program will begin with the hiring of a senior park ranger, a position that was posted Tuesday. Among many duties, the ranger will be asked to:

  • Enforces all state and local laws, ordinances, and park regulations within the Louisville Parks and Recreation purview. Issues uniform citations and makes physical arrests, when necessary.
  • Patrols parks to assess safety issues, violations of the law, addresses and manages noted concerns, and maintains high visibility with park visitors.
  • Creates and amends policies and procedures relating to the Park Ranger program, security and enforcement.
  • Implements the Park Ranger program, monitoring outcomes of that program, and reporting those outcomes.
  • Ensures all park safety and security measures are met.
  • Engages park visitors regularly through face-to-face interactions while patrolling parks and open spaces to ensure positive park experience.

If you'd like to apply, click here.

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