Lincoln woman concerned about late night activity at Mahoney Park

The safety of children has a Lincoln mom concerned.

She says there’s been some late night activity after Mahoney Park closes.

Melissa Baker lives in the neighborhood just north of the park.

She says with recent cases of vandalism and child enticement, she’s hesitant to go outside at night with her kids.

Mahoney Park is located near North 70th and Adams street.

All parks in the city of Lincoln are closed after 11 pm.

But according to Baker, the gate remains open, which invites crime in.

“At night there can be traffic at hours when the park should be closed. Obviously you have no idea what they’re doing, you’re just hoping that it’s not more vandalism or activities that bring more crime to the neighborhood,” said Baker.

With the recent cases of vandalism, attempted kidnapping and child enticement, Baker says she no longer feels completely safe making the trek to her local park when they’re alone.

“When it comes to the parks, they can be a little more isolated, and when you hear about an abduction story that is so close to home, you think about what can I do to make sure I’m safe and that my family is safe,” said Baker.

Baker says there was a situation that happened a while back that made her feel vulnerable.

She was at the park with her two infant children when it happened.

“There was somebody sitting in a van just staring and acting awkward, so that just kind of rings your gut to kind of keep an eye on things. So at point, you just want to be cautious,” said Baker.

Baker has spoken to neighbors about this, and they have developed a neighborhood group to head to the park together, for safety purposes.

She does see police patrolling the area from time to time, and you can be sure to find her carrying pepper spray for protection.

She is hoping to find out answers from the city about why the gates aren’t consistently shut after hours.

Lincoln police reports that five calls about suspicious activity has been reported in the park so far this month.

Officials say if you do see suspicious activity in public parks after hours, call the police.