Queens Park is for everyone in the local community to enjoy. The rich mix of cultures and backgrounds of its visitors represents a microcosm of the greater South African society.
When bad behaviour occurs in the park, it spoils the environment for all users (including the perpertrators!). However, a delicate balance must be maintained. For example, a group of adolescents has as much right to be there as, say, a yuppie couple and their children. But all have the right to feel safe in one of the few public open spaces in the area.
When the critical mass of respectability has been achieved, as has now happened in Queens Park since its redemption from the bad old days, the bad elements tend to be subdued.
Bad behaviour needs to be dealt with quickly. For example, early in 2014 a gang fight happened in the Dog Park. Prompt cell-phone calls from respectable park users summoned the SAP, who arrived in time to intercept the perpertrators as they moved westwards out the Dog Park along Palmerston Road.
Important here is that the community didn't confront the gang, but they were quietly assertive in reclaiming ownership of their park from others whose bad behaviour has no place there.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
For Security matters, click here.
