Abuse of city rangers on rise in Gosnells and other southern suburbs

SEVERAL councils in the southern suburbs are reporting an increase in abuse towards rangers with Gosnells saying it has become particularly bad in school carparks.

The number of reported ranger abuse cases in City of Gosnells has doubled in the past financial year from three to six.

Gosnells chief executive Ian Cowie said although the numbers were low, rangers were often subjected to verbal abuse and generally only formally report abuse where they considered it to be serious.

“Parking around schools is an increasing problem where rangers are regularly abused,” he said.

“People need to remember that rangers monitor parking around schools to ensure people do not park vehicles across footpaths and in other ways that could compromise the safety of children or other road users.”Shire of Serpentine Jarrhadale President John Erren said the Shire had reported two incidents to police in the past two years.

“No ranger was injured in either incident, but were both verbally abused/threatened,” he said.

“Our rangers provide a valuable service to ensure that the actions of a few don’t negatively impact on the rest of the community.”

City of Cockburn has implemented GPS tracing systems and CCTV in all of its vehicles due to the ongoing problem, according to Cockburn manager recreation and community safety Rob Avard.

“This is to assist all rangers and parking officers in dealing with such issues and provides them with the opportunity of recording the incident,” he said.

“The City does not keep records of all incidents, however any threat towards the rangers are reported to WA Police and dealt with accordingly.”

Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones said there had been a definite increase in verbal abuse directed towards rangers.

“This can be evidenced on a daily basis particularly when rangers are attending to indiscriminate parking issues around schools,” he said.

“Generally no action taken unless specific threats of violence are received.”