Hilliard Police adding extra security to parks after hateful graffiti message found
HILLIARD, Ohio (WCMH) -- A hateful graffiti message found spray painted at two Hilliard City park buildings is causing concern. Hilliard Police say they are adding extra security measures to the parks and looking for those responsible.
“We're not going to tolerate this. We do take this very seriously,” Sgt. Christopher Settles with the Hilliard Division of Police said.
We are not going to show you the message, but we can tell you it is a term some use to describe racism in America.
This week the message was painted on a building at the Hilliard soccer complex. The city says this building is less than a year old. We also found the message on a brick structure near the baseball fields at Hilliard Municipal Park.
“As a parent, I think it's embarrassing and disrespectful to the community,” said Ryan Reynolds, a Hilliard resident.
Reynolds said he brings his kids to the complex several times a week. He said hate is not welcome in Hilliard.
“Bringing families and kids here, we just don't like to see hateful messages or any graffiti that the kids might ask questions about. And then we have to give tough answers,” Reynolds said.
Hilliard Police Sgt Settles said they will be increasing patrols at parks.
“Anytime there is a quality of life issue that's going on in our community, we always dedicate more resources to that and make our patrol staff aware that there's something going on in a certain area of the city for them to be aware of and provide some extra patrol,” Settlers said. “We're not going to stand for our resources to be damaged and vandalized. We're doing everything we can to identify those folks and they will be prosecuted once they're identified.”
The spray paint was painted over at the soccer complex by 4 p.m. Friday.
"It's very disappointing to see damage like this done to property that families, residents, folks visiting our community are trying to enjoy,” Settles said.
He said charges can range from vandalism to criminal damage.
Sgt. Settles asks if you see anything out of the ordinary at the parks to report it to police so an officer can come by to check it out.