The Camp Verde Town Council had a presentation and discussion on vandalism within the town at a work session on Dec. 17.
Maintenance Division Manager Jeff Kobel, Public Works Director Ken Krebbs, Acting Town Marshal Dan Jacobs and Library Manager Nicolas Resteiner gave an overview of significant and recurring vandalism, the town’s response to incidents, financial implications and recommendations for future occurrences.
“This has been an increasing problem over the last several years,” Kobel said about vandalism in the town, which has been occurring at outdoor areas and the Camp Verde Community Library.
At Butler Park, vandals broke the bathroom urinals and tipped over the portable restrooms. At the Camp Verde Heritage Pool, vandals smashed skylights on the building’s roof. In the past two weeks, vandals spray painted graffiti on tables and trash cans at Community Center Park and at the skate park.
The vandalism requires not only significant cost in repairs, but in staff time and resources. The Camp Verde Marshal’s Office and maintenance division could allocate this time to other projects and tasks.
In the last two years, the library required over $9,900 in repairs and 15 hours of manpower, while Butler park required $4,800 in repairs and 220 hours of manpower.
The total cost for infrastructure repairs over the last two years totals to $24,821 with 602 employee hours spent. Combining the total cost of repairs with the average employee hourly rate, the total cost for the town adds up to $36,259 over the past two years.
Jacobs said that of 113 trespassing calls CVMO received last year, 61 were reports of vandalism. The town reported
nine of these and five were reported by schools. In response, CVMO tries to identify suspects seen in the area where the incident occurred. Jacobs said most of the time, juveniles and young adults, or people under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are responsible for the damage.
For prevention, CVMO recommends having extra patrols in an area with repetitive incidents and to encourage victims to press charges. Many who report vandalism opt not to press charges. Jacobs also recommended placing high-quality camera systems in frequently damaged areas and posting additional signage stating that anyone caught damaging property will be prosecuted.
The town operates 63 cameras, which are not centralized, across six independent servers. The current systems lack modern functionalities, limiting the town’s ability to respond to incidents in real time, efficiently retrieve footage for review and to track individuals across multiple facilities.
At the library, Resteiner explained that to get high-resolution footage, they must send time stamps to their server and cannot instantly retrieve that footage on their own.
Resteiner mentioned the possibility of hiring a security guard to visit outdoor areas and the library to provide a visible deterrent. He advised someone in-house to keep the chain of command clear.
Vice Mayor Wendy Escoffier asked what occurs when someone is caught.
Jacobs said it’s difficult to identify people involved, but when they do, they often find that people do not want to prosecute. They will make a note that it occurred. If someone did press charges, they cite them or take them to jail or juvenile detention.
Town Manager Miranda Fisher said she will prepare a capital improvements project sheet for these measures to be considered a Fiscal Year 27 Capital Improvement Plan in the next year’s budget. The town will work on alternative ways of educating the community, such as sharing information on social media, she said.2025
