Crime in Federal Recreation Areas: A Serious Problem Needing Congressional and Agency Action

The Federal Government owns millions of acres of land which people use for recreational activities. As the public's use of these lands has gone up, the incidence of crime occurring upon these lands has risen. Agency recreation officials cited as frequent problems in their areas: larceny, burglary, assault, vandalism, illicit possession of weapons, drug and alcohol abuse, and destruction of natural and historical resources. Two legal issues have made it difficult for Federal agencies administering recreation areas to provide adequate visitor protection: limited statutory authority and the applicability of Federal criminal statutes. In addition to legal obstacles to law enforcement, management problems were found in law enforcement programs. Agencies need to improve their reporting systems, they must better assess their rangers' training needs, and they need to develop uniform contracting procedures. If Federal visitor protection activities are to be uniform and if visitors are to receive uniformly adequate law enforcement services, a national policy on visitor protection is needed. The Government's program should: delineate acceptable levels of law enforcement services available to visitors, establish visitor protection guidelines and standards, establish information systems on the seriousness and extent of crime at national recreation areas, develop improved procedures for recruiting and training rangers, and develop guidelines and procedures to be followed when contracting with State and local law enforcement services.