Teens taking late night swims at city pools

Every night since city pools began opening on June 18, youths have been jumping fences to swim after hours.

They allegedly have used bolt cutters to get inside the fencing at four pools. The pool at the Hunting Park Recreation Center has been the target of youths who jump the fences and swim in the middle of the night.

Arthur Whaley, who works the overnight shift at the pool, said he was assaulted July 13 when several young men jumped him from behind. On other nights, youths cut the fences to gain entry.

City officials said they were aware of the attack on Whaley. They said they know of youth trespassing in the 70 pools but could not say how often it occurs.

"There have always been issues like that. Hunting Park has brought the biggest issues," said Lisa Whittle, Philadelphia aquatics coordinator.

Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson said fences had been repaired at pools at Lee Cultural Center, 4328 Haverford Ave.; Mill Creek Playground at 47th and Brown Streets; and Hunting Park Recreation Center and Pool at 1101 W. Hunting Park Ave. There also has been fence cutting at the Waterloo Playground at Waterloo and Cumberland Streets.

"Kids don't think past this," said Slawson. "But we're thinking past this. They are disregarding and disrespecting the rules we have in place to keep them out of harm's way."

At Hunting Park, Whaley, 52, a maintenance assistant who works from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., said the fence-cutting has been occurring nightly since the pool opened on June 23.

"I call the police every night," Whaley said. "Police patrol every night." He said the crowd of swimmers has swelled to as many as 100 people.

He said the intruders use bolt cutters to get into the fencing. He said the youths come in after midnight and stay until 4. The city repairs the damaged fences every morning, only to find the pools broken into again the next day, he said.

"Once they repair it, they unrepair it every night," Whaley said.

Whaley said he was walking into the recreation building at 11 p.m. July 13 when he was assaulted by "four to five black males around the ages of 14 to 16." He said he was hit on the left side of his head and on his bottom lip.

Recreation officials say the absence of lifeguards after business hours puts trespassers' lives at risk.

"The fun stops when you're playing in the pool and somebody hits their head, and he doesn't come out of the water," said Slawson.

She said she had appealed to the 25th Police District to increase patrols at Hunting Park.