Disregarding the dead
Cemetery caretaker troubled by teenage mayhem
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers FED UP- El Rancho Simi Pioneer Cemetery manager Barbara Scroggins scans the scene for any mischief Wednesday after nearby Royal High School is let out. The number of teens using the cemetery as a thoroughfare has escalated in the last months, she said. So have the acts of vandalism.

The Youth Services Unit of Simi Valley Police Department will be paying extra attention in coming weeks to high school students crossing through the El Rancho Simi Pioneer Cemetery after school.

Barbara Scroggins, cemetery manager, has requested assistance from city officials in dealing with alleged vandalism, theft of flowers and verbal threats by students using the cemetery as a shortcut to get to the Arroyo Simi.

"It's not a thoroughfare," Scroggins said. "This is where people lay down their loved ones. These kids just have no respect. They don't care."

Last November, Scroggins told the Simi Valley Acorn that construction on the west side of Rancho Simi Community Park, adjacent to the cemetery, was causing youths to climb over the cemetery walls to get through without having to walk around the park.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers RESTING IN PEACE?- A group of teenagers pass through Simi Pioneer Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon. Despite complaints, police say it's not trespassing because the cemetery is on public land.

Recently, she said, problems have escalated, with students breaking gates throughout the cemetery and knocking over or stealing flowers from the gravesites.

Sgt. Dwight Thompson of the Simi Valley Police Department said that because the cemetery is public, the kids are not breaking any trespassing laws.

"We gave it a lot of attention up until winter break (from school)," the officer said. "There were no noted major violations other than a few kids not wanting to walk all the way around."

Thompson said his unit, which deals specifically with the youth in the community, will continue to monitor the area as much as possible and identify lawbreakers.

"We ' l l go ahead and ramp things back up," he said. "We'll do the best we can, but we can't utilize a whole lot of resources because we have to mind the safety of all the thousands of kids in the community."

The park and the Royal Plaza shopping center- on either side of the cemetery- have been popular gathering grounds for students over the years because of their proximity to Royal High School.

A longtime business owner inside the Royal Plaza, who asked to remain anonymous, said she's seen numerous fights, loitering and vandalism by students in the center.

"Sometimes we don't even call the police because after (the kids) do whatever they've come to do, they just disappear," she said. "A lot of these kids have no respect at all."

Dan Paranick, assistant city manager and cemetery district board member, said officials are currently working with Simi Valley Unified School District and Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District to help minimize the problem.

Paranick said Royal High School administrators have repeatedly made announcements to students asking them to walk around the cemetery.

Principal Dan Houghton could not be reached for comment.

Douglas Duran, landscape designer with the park district, said they hope to complete construction at Rancho Simi Community Park by the end of the month, which will once again allow kids quicker access to the Arroyo Simi without having to cut through the cemetery.