COOS BAY — Local skater Greg Barber, intent on showing the responsible side of serious skaters, said there are trouble-makers sometimes at the new skate park, but most arrive sans skateboards.

“If we see trouble, we tell them ‘Dude, get out of here,’” he said.

Barber said he often picks up litter from others, including one incident in which a kid trashed the nearby tennis court.

The 21-year-old skates every day. He said “lingerers” often visit the skate park to smoke and bother the skaters. Older skaters tell them to leave to protect children.

Barber would like to see parent supervision increase, because anyone can walk into the skate park, and some visitors might be creeps or have drug problems.

Beau Hunter, a 12-year-old skater, echoed Barber’s thoughts, saying only a few parents come with young children. Hunter has never heard a complaint from nearby residents about the park, but said cops stop to see if kids younger than 16 are wearing helmets and to corner the occasional underage smoker. Hunter agreed that most trouble begins with teens who don’t skate.

“We think the kids should have skateboards,” Hunter said. “Usually when you see the kids without skateboards, that’s when there are problems.”

Barber said serious skaters take pride in their skate park, but sometimes they could improve their behavior.

“We need to work on screaming obscenities around families in the area,” Barber said.

Jake Sweiter, 13, as well as Hunter, said they haven’t witnessed much criminal activity or bullying. Both avid skaters, they appreciate the new park, even though Sweiter discussed how the flat skating area could be improved with a quarterpipe or rails.

“There was nowhere to skate (before),” Hunter said. “We’d be skating around town, getting kicked out of places.”

Now, they’re glad they have a park just for skaters.

“It’s a place where people can come and hang out,” Barber said.