Dog owners are good for park safety

It's not a far-fetched assertion that parks are safer when they are populated with people. Frequently when I visit a park -- any park -- the only people there are those with dogs. So if you want to discourage crime, encourage dogs. In fact, at one school I frequent with my dogs, the principal actually wants people to exercise their dogs there (off leash!) because it helps to limit vandalism and graffiti. It's an arrangement that benefits both.

A decade or so ago, I'm told, Mt. Tabor was riddled with crime: drug and alcohol use, prostitution, vandalism, etc. Being an undesirable location because of the crime, dog owners were given an OK by the city to take there dogs there (figures). Since that time it has become one of the most popular spots in town to exercise one's dog. But that's changing. Due to the harassment (see Dog Rodeo?), fewer people are taking their dogs there. Today, a man was robbed at gunpoint at Mt. Tabor. Think there is a connection?