Cookeville Police Respond to Vandalism In City Parks, Have Lead In Dogwood Park Vandalism

Cookeville Police will be increasing their presence in city parks over the coming weeks following multiple vandalism incidents.

Lieutenant Anthony Leonard said police are increasing their drive-throughs in parks as well as increasing patrols. Leonard said after reviewing cameras in the area, police are following up a potential lead in the Dogwood Park Labor Day vandalism.

“Vandalism effects everyone,” Leonard said. “Taxpayer dollars are the ones who provide the park, and they provide everything in it. Any time there is damage to a park like this it effects us all. We do take it seriously, it will be investigated, and it is being investigated, and we hope to solve this.”

City parks have seen an increase in vandalism over the last few weeks. The most recent incident occurred over Labor Day Weekend when a sunscreen dispenser was destroyed in Dogwood Park, with the contents being smeared across the park. The 2020 tornado sculpture had one of its birds removed. Bathrooms have been vandalized.

“When we have images and things of people that we’re not sure if that’s the person involved,” Leonard said. “The last thing we want to do is create a narrative that’s not true. We want to be real intentional about anytime we accuse someone, we want to make sure that we really done the work to make sure this is the right person. Before we would put out any images and things like that, we want to make sure the images of the people are images of potential suspects.”

Leonard said the parks belong to the community, and he hopes the community will help stop vandalism in the local parks. He said to not get physically involved with vandals but to “say something.”

“It goes back to that saying that everyone knows, if you see something, say something.” Leonard said. “We certainly rely on our public and often times get great information. If you see someone vandalizing or committing any crime then we ask you to call and report that.”

Leonard said Dogwood Park, Cane Creek Park, the Cookeville Skate Park and other facilities will all be under surveillance. The message to the community?

“Please stop,” Leonard said. “The damage that’s a result of that vandalism. It just doesn’t effect the park. It doesn’t just affect the business that’s vandalized. It affects the community.”