Adults must be accompanied by children in some Denver parks

Last year, rampant drug use and unsanitary conditions prompted the City of Denver to close some of its parks. Now, those parks have reopened but with a safety request in place. 

There are signs at Sonny Lawson Park and Governor's Park warning adults to stay out of the playground unless accompanied by a minor. 

"What we want is families and children to come into this space and feel safe because We have been challenged with bad behavior, adults engaging in bad behavior," said Scott Gilmore with Denver Parks & Rec. 

The new policy is an attempt to discourage that bad behavior, such as crime and drug use, from happening in the public spaces. 

"My park staff would come out every day to clean the parks, that is their daily task, my park staff was starting to find needles and then there was a day my staff found 40 hyper dermic needles in this playground," said Gilmore. 

That led to the parks being closed for a time. After reopening, some noticed those behaviors starting up again. 

"I think it is a great idea. For a long time, it felt like the parks in the neighborhood been taken away from us, for a long time people were afraid to bring their children here," said resident Richard Wilson.