10 Jan Unarmed Private Security Guard to Patrol Downtown Antioch
(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)
By Samantha Kennedy
Antioch will contract with a private security company after business owners in the downtown area saw an increase in crime over the past two years.
The private security company, Spearhead Protection, will provide one uniformed guard to patrol nine parking lots and a number of city assets in the downtown area. The guard will be unarmed.
“They’re basically going to be additional eyes in the community,” acting City Manager Kwame Reed said. The guard will patrol the areas every day between 5 p.m. and midnight with support from the Antioch Police Department.
One resident and council member Lori Ogorchock asked what authority the guard would have. The resident said many private guards have no authority, simply acting as a deterrent. Ogorchock said she didn’t want a guard to just sit in their vehicle.
Reed said the guard would indeed be there to deter criminal activity with their presence and would report incidents to the police.
When burglaries spiked early last year, business owners criticized the slow responses by the Antioch Police Department. Police response to burglaries at restaurants Cocina Medina and Hillcrest Taphouse during that spike, according to a letter addressed to the community by the department, “fell short of [its] goals.”
The owner of Hillcrest Taphouse previously told NBC Bay Area that he watched the burglary through his surveillance camera as it happened. Dispatchers at that time told him no officers were available for that call, which was not considered an emergency. The burglary lasted at least 10 minutes, according to the owner, and police did not respond for hours.
Incidents like these and others involving vehicles, such as drivers doing donuts or engaging in sideshows, have prompted businesses to explore other security measures that supplement police efforts.
>>>Read: Antioch Council Does a U-Turn on Approach to Sideshows
Council members said some business owners have hired private security for their own businesses and worked with the city to find solutions. Because the parking lots are not the private property of those businesses, they are not obligated to also provide security for them.
Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker said the responsibility is on the city and businesses to do their respective parts, but other resources need to be put in place to support further security efforts.
One part of supporting the safety of businesses and their customers is rebuilding the police department to regular staffing levels and hiring a police chief, according to Torres-Walker.
“There have to be other strategies other than just extending a contract,” she said.
The contract will include a guard patrolling the area for the rest of the 2023-24 fiscal year and the entire 2024-25 fiscal year. The contract is not expected to exceed $150,000, with $50,000 funding the first year.
Reed said the council could agree to future contracts that would increase the number of security guards in a selected area, which can include those not in the downtown area. The council can decide if those guards are armed or unarmed.
The next Antioch City Council meeting is on Jan. 24.
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