Prattville PD Cracks Down on Doster Well Park After Recent Disturbances

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A popular park in Prattville has been deemed a “zero tolerance zone” by police after a number of recent disturbances.

Captain David Fowler with the Prattville Police Department says there has been 145 service calls to the park since 2017. The primary trouble months being the summer months.

“Recently as July 8, we had a felony assault where an adult came over there with brass knuckles and blind-sided a juvenile in the park,” said Fowler.

On Tuesday, July 16, another altercation occurred.

“Yesterday, what set the edge was we had a fight down there. One of our officers happened to be patrolling by there, stopped to get out, separated the individuals and Chief Thompson at that point closed the park down,” Fowler said.

In 2017, the park was closed for several days after a fight occurred on the beach. Footage of a teen with autism being beat, went viral.

Now the department along with city leaders have created a new game plan to crack down on crime with new park hours. The park will operate from from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to the new hours, children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

“Some of the main issues is we just have kids come, there are several neighborhoods that are in walking distance and they show up there and they’re not monitored by parents or adults. They get down there and not all the kids are bad down there, we do have some good kids that show up but you know, it takes a few sometimes to mess up a good thing,” said Fowler.

By Wednesday, new signs were posted at the park with the new hours and the new rule. Fowler says these new hours may change when school starts. The hours are mainly for summer months. However, the well portion of the park does not fall under the limited hours. The restriction is only in place for the area known as the beach.

Prattville, AL Code of Ordinances Sec. 51-22 Authority to eject violators of article provisions. 

(a) The parks and recreation director, police officers or park attendants shall have the authority to eject from the park any person acting in violation to this article.

(b) For the first offense, the violator shall be ejected from the park for a minimum of 72 hours. For the second offense, the violator shall be ejected from the park for a minimum of 30 days. For the third offense, the violator shall be permanently trespassed from the park.

(c) If the violator commits any criminal act, including, but not limited to vandalism, the violator shall be permanently trespassed from the park on the first offense.

Alabama Code 12-15-125. Taking into custody of children generally

(a) A child or minor may be taken into custody for any of the following reasons:

1) By a law enforcement officer for an alleged delinquent act pursuant to the laws of arrest;

(2) By a law enforcement officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the child has run away from his or her parents, legal guardian, or other legal custodian;

(3) By a law enforcement officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the child has no parent, legal guardian, legal custodian, or other suitable person willing and able to provide supervision and care for the child; or