Millicent Daniels<\/a> discussed safety and liability during our latest \u201cJustice 4 All\u201d segment on The Morning Show.<\/p>\nWhat park visitors should look for<\/p>\n
Daniels said residents should pay attention to the condition of a park and activity taking place there, much as they would assess the condition of a home or neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you see things like people who are hanging out at the park outside of normal business hours, graffiti or trash that\u2019s everywhere,\u201d Daniels said, visitors should take note. <\/p>\n
She also pointed to broken playground equipment and parking lots or other areas with inadequate lighting as warning signs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings like that are very, very good indicators that that park may not necessarily be the most safe for you and for your family,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n
Daniels also said visitors may want to avoid a park until safety concerns are addressed if recent incidents have been reported there.<\/p>\n
City\u2019s responsibility to maintain parks<\/p>\n
Public parks are public property, and Daniels said cities have a legal duty to maintain them in a reasonably safe condition.<\/p>\n
That responsibility can include inspecting playgrounds, repairing damaged equipment, addressing fencing problems and maintaining bleachers and bathroom facilities. <\/p>\n
Daniels said cities also should monitor parks for people who are loitering or engaging in criminal activity, and repair cracked or unpaved walking paths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city has a legal duty to make sure that parks are maintained in a reasonably safe condition,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n
Daniels said a city could face civil liability if it had actual notice of a dangerous condition \u2014 meaning the problem was reported or otherwise known \u2014 or constructive notice, meaning the danger existed long enough that the city reasonably should have discovered and fixed it.<\/p>\n
Why reporting hazards matters<\/p>\n
Daniels encouraged park visitors to report safety concerns rather than assume someone else already has done so.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you see a danger, report it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat way the city can be put on notice that they need to go ahead and fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports can also create a record of the problem. If a hazard remains after the city has had enough time to address it, Daniels said the reports could help establish a history of complaints.<\/p>\n
\u201cReport any incidents if you see people hanging around and it appears that they\u2019re doing criminal activity,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cReport it to law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said reports and ignored complaints could become evidence if someone later files a lawsuit against the city.<\/p>\n
A previous Jacksonville case<\/p>\n
Daniels cited the death of a toddler at a Jacksonville public park several years ago as an example of how an unsafe condition can lead to legal action. <\/p>\n
She said the child drowned after falling into an uncovered septic tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really a good example where the city failed to meet the mark, and it resulted in a child\u2019s death,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n
How to report a concern<\/p>\n
Residents who see a safety problem at a city park can call 630-CITY to report it. Those reports are assigned a ticket, creating a record that the city was notified.<\/p>\n
Visitors should also call law enforcement when they see suspected criminal activity or face an immediate threat. In an emergency, call 911.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Concerns about safety at Jacksonville parks have grown after two shootings at Clanzel T. Brown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[502,116,118,117,5435,5436,277,504],"class_list":["post-415141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-community","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-justice-4-all","tag-morning-show","tag-public-safety","tag-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}