“And the bad thing is one or two skaters do something wrong, and then people blame all of them,” says McNeill, who also points out that there are bound to be more police calls anytime the population of a park increases, since there are more people to report things.

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The last major incident at the park was an August 2009 arson. Since then, calls have mostly just been for noise complaints and alarms going off in the nearby gymnasium.

The relative silence from neighbors when skaters first arrived at the new skate spot is now being broken by calls for more police presence. Residents writing on a neighborhood e-mail list have asked about having a dedicated officer at the park, much like what was instituted in Downtown Silver Spring after a July 12 beating of an adult by about 15 teens and adults. After that incident, county police added eight officers to the four already assigned to the downtown core.

The chief for the Montgomery County Division of park police, Chief Darien L. Manley, wrote in an e-mail to residents that such a move isn’t possible for park police because significant budget cuts have left the department with a diminished overtime budget. Instead, the department has increased regular patrols in the park, including the addition of plainclothes policemen, and encouraged residents to call them first at the sign of trouble.

In the meantime, skaters don‘t know where else to go.

“I really don’t want to lose this spot, but honestly they probably will take it away,” says Ian Anderson, 17, of Silver Spring. “Then we’ll have no other choice than to go to the spots they don’t want us at.”

Anderson says the park, although fun, is really too small anyway; it can only accommodate seven skaters safely at a time, which isn’t enough to meet  demand. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, about 50 skaters crowded all around. They waited to take turns and skated on any available surface, including unused portions of the basketball court.

The park is also more secluded than the busy downtown core.

“I sort of feel safe, but at the same time, I don’t because something could happen,” says Tony Cao, 15, of Silver Spring. “At Veteran’s Plaza, if anything happens, there’s witnesses all around you. But out here it gets dark, and anything could happen.”

Some skaters have attempted to return to Veteran’s Plaza, where weeks of skating have left benches and handrails damaged, officials say. Last week a group showed up at the plaza, but a security guard patrolling the area prevented them from attempting to skate.

The teens were left clutching their boards. “No skateboarding” signs surrounded them as they admired the rink’s concrete and smooth surfaces. Chairs and tables filled the rink instead.