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Ticketed teens say police overdid it Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell From left, Meghan Drew, 16, Andi Muzzioli, 16, Addie Wiersma, 18, and Liz Hamilton, 17, say they were merely eating ice cream after a youth group meeting when they were cited for trespassing for being in Bear Creek Park after 10:30 p.m. By JONEL ALECCIA Eight Central Point teenagers cited for trespassing after they stopped to eat ice cream on a summer night in Bear Creek Park are calling for bigger warning signs and friendlier attitudes from Medford police officers. The teens, who were on their way home from a youth group meeting at Applegate Christian Fellowship, admit they lingered in the park Aug. 14 after the posted 10:30 p.m. closure. But they said they didn't know the park was closed. In any case, they said they were leaving at 11:07 p.m. when they were stopped and cited by Medford Officer Steve Furst for being in a park after hours. The teens contend that Furst was rude and intimidated them by calling for assistance from fellow officers in two patrol cars. "There were like six cops; they thought we were criminals," said Addie Wiersma, 18. "I'm like, 'We just got back from church.' " Parents of the young people, most of whom are student government leaders at Crater High School, have been incensed by the incident. "Just a warning would have sufficed," said Toni Drew, whose 16-year-old daughter, Meghan, was cited. "We have an officer wasting his time on good kids who went out for ice cream - and then he calls for backup." But Furst's supervisor, Medford Police Lt. Tim George, said the officer was simply doing his job. He said Furst drove by the park at 10:30 p.m. and flashed his lights at the kids to warn them they should leave. The kids said they didn't see it. Furst called for assistance to speed up the process of writing citations, George added. "We've pretty much developed a zero tolerance for people loitering in the city parks," he said. "We've had tennis courts torn up, the Statue of Liberty has been vandalized. It's an issue." Warnings alone don't seem to deter young people from hanging out in city parks, George said. From June through August, Medford police issued 97 citations to people of all ages for trespassing after hours in city parks. That's as much to ensure public safety as anything, George said. "From a parental standpoint, if my kid is in a city park at 11 p.m., I would congratulate the officer who cited him," George said. "He shouldn't be there." But the Central Point teens and their families said they had no idea that Medford public parks close from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. And they said the small sign posted near a parking lot wasn't noticeable enough to make the point. "If it's dark, you wouldn't see the sign," Toni Drew said. "If they're going to close the park, put a chain up." Indeed, bigger, clearer signs printed in English and Spanish will soon go up in area parks, said Greg Jones, director of the Medford Parks and Recreation Department. But even that won't soothe parents such as Shari Muzzioli, whose 16-year-old daughter, Andi, like the others, will have a citation on her record unless she pays $100 to expunge it after she turns 18. In addition, Muzzioli and other parents received a letter from the county juvenile department indicating they could have been fined $1,000 for not supervising their kids. "When she called and said, 'Mom, I'm getting a citation,' I almost said, 'Give me that officer!' " Muzzioli recalled. Teens and parents alike said Furst should have known by looking at them that they weren't troublemakers. "If we fit the profile of people who were cited before, then maybe," said Wiersma. "Their appearance and behavior is not such that it would be offensive, and they weren't disrespectful," Toni Drew said. Appearance should have nothing to do with police citations, George countered. "Do we only give tickets to people who don't look nice?" he said. "We don't base our cites on how people look. That's discrimination, and we don't do it." Also at issue was the officer's attitude toward the teenagers. Wiersma said Furst called her a "smart ass." Liz Hamilton, 17, said he was belligerent from the start. "He came in with the intent to write some tickets and scare some people," she said. Furst denies that he was rude, George said. "He says he was more than cordial. There's no indication from anyone else that he was less than polite," George said. The incident illustrates a missed opportunity to build relationships between police and young people, Toni Drew said. And at least one teen said it soured her view of local law enforcement. "It makes me look at local police a little different," Hamilton said. "Why don't they have something better to do?" Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.