MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When the heat is on, the pool is a priority, especially for kids.
“I go swimming every day,” one young swimmer told us.
“Like if I had a hot day, it would feel pretty good,” said another young swimmer.
That`s why city pools are open, but when they close, and kids want to swim, some break the rules.
Memphis Police have received 97 calls since January of 2014 about juveniles breaking into city pools, trespassing when no lifeguard is on duty, jumping the pool fence, and jumping off of lifeguard ladders.
Often it’s happened at the Riverview Pool but there have also been plenty of break-ins at L.E. Brown on South Orleans where 13-year-old Cedric Walton died July 5 after he and other kids broke into the pool.
The city said it monitors all pools.
“If it is witnessed in real time, the speaker announcement comes on telling whoever is trespassing they need to vacate the premises,” said Janet Hooks, Director of Parks and Neighborhoods for the City of Memphis.
If trespassers don’t leave, police are called.
Parents have a responsibility too.
“The city should take more action to get parents at the pool with their children because anything can happen, anything,” said Porsha Holmes, the mother of a young son who loves to swim.
“We are looking at everything that we can possibly do that would lend itself to make sure our children and young adults are safe when they are in our pools,” said Hooks.
That includes providing swimming lessons and researching additional pool days because this is an issue that is not going away as the summer heats up.
