Pool hopping is back before summer has even begun

The first day of summer is right around the corner, and as temperatures heat up, the city is already seeing a resurgence of pool hopping — a trend in which people trespass and jump into public pools after hours.

Several young hoppers were spotted scaling the fence at Patterson Park last week and leaping into the pool while it was closed, disregarding “no trespassing” signs and even taking one down. The incident was earlier reported by WBAL.

Lindsey Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Police Department, said the individuals in the pool left when officers responded just before 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pool hopping has been a longtime, dangerous problem in Baltimore and many urban hubs around the country. Last summer, a man nearly drowned after going into a neighborhood pool in Wilson Park after it had closed. Flight officers operating a Baltimore Police Department helicopter responded to calls for help, landing the chopper in a nearby field and rushing to give the man CPR.

Nikki Cobbs, chief of aquatics for the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, said she regularly gets text messages from community members telling her people are swimming in public pools after hours.

Cobbs said she tells bystanders to call the police. Those who don’t feel comfortable calling police, she tells to either call 311 or try to persuade pool hoppers to get out of the water.

“Would you want it on your conscience if you saw kids in the pool and you did nothing, and then you saw on the news the next day that something tragic happened, and you could have prevented it?” she asked. “Think about that.”

Entering a city pool after operating hours is punishable with a citation for trespassing, possible arrest and charges related to property destruction, breaking and entering or other offenses, Eldridge said.

The Department of Recreation and Parks has signs condemning trespassing and cameras installed at its pools, but that has not deterred the hoppers. Each time the cameras detect activity at a pool during non-operating hours, Cobbs said, she gets an email notification. On warm days after midnight, the notifications come in like a flood.

One time last year, according to Cobbs, a pool hopper took down one of the cameras and cut the fiber optics to it to avoid being seen. Another person, she said, even set up linkups and invited others to swim after hours.

Baltimore has more than 20 indoor and outdoor pools, which offer free admission but require a Civic Rec account. A handful opened for Memorial Day weekend, with all neighborhood and park pools beginning full-season operations on June 16. Exact hours vary, but most pools close at either 6:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.

The department also hosts several teen pool nights at Druid Hill Park over the summer that typically turn out hundreds of youths.

Still, the hoppers hop.

“We are doing everything possible that we can do to try to avoid that and people are not helping us. They’re fighting against us,” Cobbs said. “This trend is unsafe and it’s dangerous.”