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Lodi Says Not Much Can Be Done About Lawrence Park Complaints

LODI (CBS13) — Lodi residents are concerned about their safety of Lawrence Park, because of drug use and the park's homeless population.

When CBS13 came to the park, we found a large group of people gathered around picnic tables.

One of those people was Jeanette Buckley, who says she's homeless and hangs out at Lawrence Park almost daily.

"There's been times when there's police that showed up, but I mean that's because some people shouldn't drink," Buckley said.

Martin Jones works at the American Legion, which sits on the edge of the park. He has a list of complaints.

"It's just getting bad," he said. "I see drug deals going on; I see people having sex out there in the park; they sleep out there in the park."

Jeff Hood, with the city of Lodi, says they received complaints about six months ago, so they removed a few benches to try and curb the problem, but they say they can't kick anyone out.

"It's not against the law to be homeless. It's not against the law to be in a park," Hood said.

The city says it will continue to address issues and concerns as they arise, but adds that there have been no complaints in the last three months.

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