EASTON, Pa. — City Councilman Frank Pintabone is inviting the community to Pioneer Playground to discuss safety in the neighborhood Saturday.
Pintabone announced the event, which will take place at Cheston/Pioneer Park at noon, with officials from Easton Police Department, Easton Fire Department and Easton Area School District to talk about how to keep parks safe for everyone.
According to Pintabone, fights and other disturbances tend to peak at the park once the weather gets warm, and the community discussion aims to preemptively put a foot down and decrease the chance of violence.
“The neighborhood is upset. The school district is upset. We had a couple incidents with fights and jumping and bullying Monday and Tuesday of this week, so I called the mayor, and we agreed we got to nip this in the bud early this year. We're not going to play games,” Pintabone said.
Joining the authorities will be representatives from local businesses, the Boys and Girls Club, local clergy members and more.
“We’re going to have a discussion: How can we curtail this? What can we do better as a community? How can the residents help prevent this issue? What can the police do? The firefighters? The EMTs? We’re just going to take a full city approach, everybody included, and find out what is the best way to nip this in the bud so it doesn’t turn into a whole summer-long issue,” Pintabone said.
The councilman said the event is not intended to punish children, but to find options to involve them with improving the parks and the community as a whole.
“How can we do better? We offer them alternatives to hanging out and causing trouble, and make it known and clear that we’re not doing that this year. We’re going to address it and handle it,” Pintabone said.
