During the summer season, Bonney Lake residents and nonresidents alike venture outdoors to take advantage of Washington’s brief period of sunshine and heat. One of the more popular destinations is Allan Yorke park, a city-run park on the southwest shore of Lake Tapps featuring a boat launch, docks, skate park, playground, baseball fields, snack shack and hiking trails.

But like any public gathering space, Allan Yorke is prone to risk-management issues. Traffic, fights and other problems have caused the Bonney Lake Police Department to respond with stepped up patrols to make the area safe for everyone.

“About five to six years ago we saw an increase in problems in the park area,” Sgt. Tom Longtine said. “There were fights, thefts. It used to be a daily occurrence to come down to the skate park and take a theft report because a skateboarder would leave their backpack by the fence and somebody would come by and steal something out of their bag.”

Longtine, who was just coming on shift on a sunny Aug. 13 afternoon, is one of the Bonney Lake officers tasked to patrol Allan Yorke park during peak hours. The city of Bonney Lake set aside funds more than five years ago for Bonney Lake Police Department to control petty crime in the park. The money funds overtime shifts for officers to watch the park without losing coverage of other parts of the city.

Today, police representatives say the park is much safer. On afternoons of peak days, usually the weekend, an officer will begin a shift in the skate park parking lot. Officers will run radar on passing cars for about 30 minutes before proceeding on foot patrol through the park,

“When I came on staff four years ago, there were constant complaints to the safety board about the park,” Police Chief Mike Mitchell said. “With the patrol, we try to have at least one officer in the park during business hours. We very seldom ever have people come to the Public Safety building to complain about the park today.”

But problems still take place. The park was shut down the evening of July 30 after police prevented a fight from breaking out among a group of juveniles. One of the involved parties had already been trespassed from the park – and asked not to return – earlier that day. During the second altercation the juvenile was searched and found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia.

Events like that are the exception and not the rule, Mitchell said.

“That’s the reason we’re out there, to catch problems like that and keep them from becoming worse,” he said. “Allan Yorke is a park people come to from all over, including Auburn, South Hill and Tacoma. Any time you bring that many outside factors, there will be risks.”

The risks most often seen today come primarily from an increase in traffic to the park.

“West Tapps and Lake Tapps (highways) are both very busy already,” Longtine said. “And we have a boat launch right next to the road. On Saturdays, it’s not unusual to see traffic go back farther than you can see. We have to get in the intersection and direct traffic on those days. It can be a near impossible job some days.”

Boat trailer parking poses its own problem in the gravel lot on the north side of Bonney Lake Boulevard. The lot is used for mixed parking, which has led to trucks with trailers blocking in other vehicles on busy days.

Another recurring issue has been drug use, primarily marijuana, on park grounds. Both Mitchell and Longtine joked about a sign that had been temporarily posted by an anonymous person near the entrance of the park’s hiking trail. It read “Dope Smokers Beware” and warned of increased police patrol of usual hangouts.

“Usually I’ll see some kids hang out at the skate park for a while and then head into the woods,” Longtine said. “I’ll give them a few minutes before I go back there and make sure they’re not smoking pot.”

After checking one of the groves and a small footbridge formerly marked as the “420 bridge” in spray paint before the boards were replaced, Longtine found an empty plastic baggie in a second open grove.

“This one’s actually pretty cleaned out, but it is folded up in the manner someone carrying pot might have it,” he said.

Other problems continue to persist, including public intoxication, which appears to be slightly on the rise this year, as opposed to last year, Longtine said. But overall, the park is a safer place than it was in the past, and the parks department increasingly hosts family activities such as bands and drive-in movies.

“It’s a place I would bring my wife and daughter when I’m off the clock,” Longtine said. “And that wouldn’t have been the case a few years ago.”