Since the bodies of 63-year-old Stacey Dramiga and 39-year-old Pete Hosea Castillo were found in wooded areas of the trails, trail-goers have worried about personal safety, especially alone or in the evenings.
San Antonio Park Police continues to reassure the public that the trails are safe; citing no additional major crimes reported.
But serious crimes along San Antonio trails that have happened in a matter of months, including the discovery of a missing U.S. Navy veteran’s dead body, a woman set on fire while sitting in her car, and a man who was later found dead across town after telling his family he was going on a walk at the trails, have worried people who frequently visit the trails to connect with nature and disconnect from everyday environments.
The Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System has more than 100 miles of trails across the city, surrounded by more acres of wooded areas.
Park Police Lt. Juan De La Peña, who manages a team of 40 park police officers that drive ATV vehicles along the trails and wooded areas across the trailsystem, gave a trail safety update Tuesday evening to the Linear Creekway Parks Advisory Board, which requested an update after hearing of concerns from community groups.
Some say they are worried about crimes near San Antonio trails because it’s harder to describe an exact location unless you’re familiar with the trailheads and mile markers.
De La Peña said the criminal investigations are still ongoing and do not seem to be connected.
Dramiga’s murder near Dafoste Park has been the only recent major crime on the trails, he said, adding that since Castillo’s time of death is unknown, his body may have only been placed near the Walker Ranch Trailhead.
Still, park police are being proactive, questioning people they believe look suspicious and addressing unusual activity before any trends are formed.
“If we can fix an issue before it becomes an issue, it helps everybody,” he said. “We’ve had one murder on the trail system. Does that make the trail system unsafe? … What I look at is major crimes; rapes, robberies and murders.”
De La Peña said mile markers, or at least identifying which trailheads someone is in between, can be useful in getting police to the scene right away. He also recommended finding GPS coordinates, accessible on smartphone maps so law enforcement can pinpoint where help is needed.
The crimes on the rise on the trails, he said, are car burglaries happening at trailhead parking lots.
Park Police patrol the trails until 10 p.m. every day. Patrol areas have been broken into smaller sections, ensuring officers can respond to crimes faster when reported.
It’s already led to about a dozen arrests at Phil Hardberger Park, where undercover officers identified vice or potential criminal activity happening in a bathroom.
But it’s also a matter of stopping crime trends before they happen, De La Peña said. Police will be more visible on the trails; They’re also relying on trail stewards to be their eyes and ears.
Officers are also paying more attention to wooded areas, looking further into anything they believe to be unusual. When they can’t access those areas on ATVs, Park Police can access air patrol to check on activity by identifying body heat or campfires.
In addition to safety on the trails, board members on Tuesday learned that Park Police has identified several homeless communities with people who have set up encampments in wooded areas.
De La Peña said that most homeless people chose to live in those wooded areas to disassociate from society; Some may have mental health issues, but generally want to be left alone.
But sometimes “people with baggage” start to access those areas, he says including people involved with narcotics that could lead to secondary and tertiary crimes.
Park Police evict people living in homeless encampments and work with the city’s Department of Human Services to clean up those areas and give them resources.
“The public just needs to know situational awareness. If you see something suspicious, call it in,” De La Peña said. “Please, if something doesn’t seem right, just call the police.”
If you see something unusual happening on San Antonio trails, call the non-emergency police line at 210-207-7273, or call 9-1-1 if you need police immediately.
You can also report information at 210-335-6000 or at bscotips@bexar.org.
