A new security camera is mounted on a wall at the Clanzel T. Brown Park on Moncrief Road in Jacksonville. | City of Jacksonville
Published on September 2, 2025 at 3:26 pm
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Saying Jacksonville needs to have “safety in our parks,” city officials announced new Wi-Fi and security cameras Monday at several recreational facilities, with more on the way.
Cameras have been installed at 10 of the city’s busiest parks as part of a Safe Parks initiative announced by Mayor Donna Deegan at Clanzel T. Brown Park’s basketball courts on Moncrief Road.
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Six more parks will have cameras soon, Deegan said. And public Wi-Fi is now available at four of the city’s 400-plus parks.
“I think safety is important, but also it provides a connectivity to these areas that we haven’t had,” Deegan said. “Having Wi-Fi in these parks is really a big deal for people. It gets people connected on a level that some of them have not had an opportunity to be, and I think when we talk about being a city that works for everybody, this is a part of that, and this is something that the community has wanted for a very long time, and something that frankly they deserve.”
The new security cameras are hooked up to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Real-Time Crime Center, where officers monitor live video feeds overlooking city facilities and streets. The parks department also will monitor the cameras.
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The cameras target the whole park, Chief Information Officer Wanyonyi Kendrick said.
“It provides added tools to keep the public and our first responders safe,” she said. “That means better prevention, quicker response and safer parks for our community.”
Adding Wi-Fi to city parks means children playing there have better cellphone and laptop connections, to help them stay connected to their parents, Deegan said. It also will allow police and firefighters to have “stronger tools” when they get to a park.
“And while our top priority is safety, accessible Wi-Fi is also a really important investment in making is a smarter community,” she said. “This will give students the tools to learn; it will connect job seekers to opportunities; and it will help more of our residents stay informed and engage in the spaces where they gather.”
Wi-Fi system installation is being done at no cost to the city, with all equipment donated, Deegan said.
The cost for the security cameras is about $800,000, Deegan said.
Cameras have been installed at Patton Park, Adolph Wurn Park, Baker Skinner Park, Clanzel T. Brown Park, Drew Park, Eartha Napoleon Park, Lonnie Miller Park, Legends Park, Fort Family Park and Memorial Park.
Others expected to have security cameras in place by the end of the year are Blue Cypress Park, Walter Jones Park, Oceanway Park, Taye Brown Park, Cecil Aquatic Park and the Equestrian Center.
Updates on the park cameras and Wi-Fi can be found at the city’s I Dig Jax construction project website.
