Assemblyman Crespo to review stats on blue light help points in parks

Forty blue light systems were installed across four Bronx parks in 2017 with the goal of creating safer environments for parkgoers and decreasing response times for emergencies.

News 12 Staff

Mar 16, 2019, 12:35 AM

Updated 2,112 days ago

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Assemblyman Crespo to review stats on blue light help points in parks
Almost two years after the launch of the Blue Lights Parks Safety Pilot Program across four Bronx parks, Assemblyman Marcos Crespo says he wants to dive deeper into the statistics of its performance.
Forty blue light systems were installed across four Bronx parks in 2017 with the goal of creating safer environments for parkgoers and decreasing response times for emergencies.
A 911 call made from a blue light box will show the caller's exact location inside the park, so officers can respond as soon as possible.
"The idea was to create a system to allow folks to call for help in case of an emergency especially because we have so many trails,” says Crespo.
News 12 reviewed the blue lights stats from September 2017 to October 2018 and found that more than 2,000 emergency calls were made during that time frame, with Soundview Park seeking the highest volume of calls.
"We believe the technology can be useful but until we dive deeper into the numbers, and until we know how many of those are false alarms, it will hard to say whether this pilot should be expanded throughout New York City,” says Crespo.
Crespo says that once he gets a more clear understanding of the statistics, he would want to take further safety measures in the borough's parks.
"I also want the data to help us secure additional personnel in our city and state budgets - we want to make sure we have personnel on the ground, and it shouldn’t just be waiting for a call to be responded to,” he says.