Recreation and Parks Department seeks more city rangers

As the holiday season kicks off, city rangers said it's becoming a challenge to keep up with their job duties.

That's because the City of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is in need of more city rangers.

“We will have two openings. Typically when we are at full staff, it can be tight. We don't just patrol 8 hours per day. We patrol 16 hours per day,” said park ranger Casey Stone.

Right now there are 8 rangers, but some of them are part-time.

Meanwhile, this week's training served as a way for peace officers to keep up with their status.

“We have a 40-hour training on an annual basis. We cover laws of arrest to search and seisure. We also talk about any new issues we're seeing,” Stone said.

With the holiday season just around the corner, Ranger Ruben Ramirez said the days are becoming busier.

“Right now we're patrolling the town center parking structures. We just want to make sure people feel safe out here,” Ramirez said.

Rangers are keeping a closer eye on areas near shopping centers.

“We see an increase on everything from parking issues to people looking in cars and then there's some petty theft and things of that nature,” Stone said.

If you would like to learn more about the job openings, you can contact the City of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department for more information.