Skateboarding is not a crime. Just ask Officer Miguel Zarate

Miguel Zarate can still remember his first skateboard: an old-school, fishtail-shaped board with red grip tape, big blue wheels, and multiple punk band stickers on its underside.

Zarate, who is now 34 and an officer with the Petaluma Police Department, was 10 years old when he received that board. It was from his brother-in-law, who Zarate said inspired him to not only take up skateboarding as a pastime but keep it up as a part of his everyday lifestyle, well into adulthood.

“Originally, my main inspiration for skateboarding was because it was edgy, cool, and the older kids were doing it, including my older brother-in-law. But I think the main reason I was attracted to it was because it really is an ultimate form of athletic self-expression,” Zarate said.

“The possibilities for tricks are only limited by your imagination. There are no rules. You get on the board and simply create art with your actions.”

These days, Zarate is using his skills and passion for the sport to make a connection with other Petalumans – particularly local youth – who are part of the city’s active skateboarding community.

“My favorite part of the sport is the camaraderie and sense of community that skateboarding has,” Zarate said. “Although I obviously love the act of skateboarding and the creation of new tricks, going to a skate park on a busy Friday is truly an amazing experience in itself.”

He added, “You get a large variety of diverse people from different backgrounds all taking part of the same thing. No one cares about your background, ethnicity, religion, career, beliefs, or anything like that. We are all unified by the love of one thing – skateboarding.”

Along with the camaraderie, Zarate hopes his fellow skateboarders will come to see that police “are just normal human beings like anyone else” and that people can start to see police in a more positive light.

“I promise you we have a lot more in common than you realize,” he said. “As a police officer, I know how important it is to obtain trust and respect from the community.”

New skate park

At least two or three days a week, Zarate said, people can find him at the Petaluma Skatepark, which has been tucked behind the city’s swim center near the fairgrounds since 1997.

In a series of public workshops in January and February, Petaluma officials and the public have discussed plans for a redesign of the skate park, which the city says is “one of the oldest active skate parks in California.” And Officer Zarate has become a key figure in the outreach effort.

“A new skate park would mean a new place for the youth to hang out, exercise and regain all the social time they lost during the pandemic and lockdowns,” Zarate said.

“So many of our youth are just glued to their cell phones all day that it makes me happy to see them at the skate park enjoying themselves with their friends, just like I did when I was growing up in the ‘90s with no cell phones.”

After more public input, a final proposal on the redesign is slated for this summer, with the city seeking a new skate park that will “encourage participation and skills progression from a broader range of ages, ability levels, and user groups,” according to its website.

Amenities such as shade, seating, drinking fountains, restrooms, universal signage, better lighting and a more accessible entrance are also part of the redesign – or, as city officials revealed recently, part of a possible new skate park to be built at Lucchesi Park.

For his part, Zarate has been attending those community workshops, speaking up on behalf of the city, and spreading the word via social media. He says he looks forward to seeing what the project has in store.

And he hopes that, in the long run, more people will come to appreciate the sport as much as he does.

“Skateboarding isn't what most people think when they see a video or picture of a professional skateboarder doing a challenging trick,” he said. ”Those tricks can sometimes take up to 50 attempts before they're landed properly. Within those failures are lots of bumps and bruises that ensue. Falling on concrete isn't easy, and it gets harder the older you get.“

But, he noted, that’s part of what makes the skateboarding community so special to him.

“We aren't afraid of failure and understand failure is often required before achieving greatness,” Zarate said.

It’s a lesson he feels is important for Petaluma’s youth to learn.

“Never give up, learn from your mistakes, adjust and understand that these bumps in the road will only lead to success.”

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.