Months of discussions regarding how to bring private security personnel to patrol North Beach and other popular San Clemente areas were reduced to ash late Tuesday night, May 16, with a vote by the City Council.
The council unanimously voted to create a new watch area comprising North Beach and the “T Zone” that four deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will patrol under the watchful eye of Capt. Jay Christian, chief of San Clemente Police Services.
Each deputy would require $305,347 of spending for a full year, amounting to just north of $1,22 million for all four, and the city would need to spend $120,953 a month for the deputies, as well as equipment and vehicle costs within the first year.
The vote came as Christian submitted two of his own proposals to increase public safety in addition to four bids from private security firms that the council subcommittee of Mayor Pro Tem Steeve Knoblock and Councilmember Victor Cabral considered.
The council had previously authorized a contract worth a maximum of $100,000 per month for three months to work with a private security firm, although the council had yet to officially select a firm.
“I’m glad you submitted your proposal,” Cabral said. “Originally, I thought we might do this a little bit less expensively, but if my colleagues are thinking law enforcement is the answer, I’m certainly for it.”
The subcommittee had previously recommended the council authorize a three-month contract with Allied Universal Security Solutions, which would have provided four officers to work 12-hour shifts at a rate of $58,079 each month.
City Manager Andy Hall added Tuesday that Allied Universal’s proposal was scalable, meaning it could also provide two officers for 12-hour shifts seven days a week, costing $29,040 per month. The $58,079 option would have totaled $651,612 in a year.
The money would pay for officers, uniforms, vehicles, and equipment, and a supervisor would be present at all times as one of the officers.
Regarding OCSD, Hall reminded the council that the process of hiring new deputies would take a couple of months.
Christian’s second proposal consisted of bringing an additional Behavioral Health Liaison Officer (BHL) to supplement the one already in San Clemente and two more deputies for a monthly cost of $95,501 for the first year. The costs for each proposal also included $229,975 for equipment, although costs would drop off roughly 15% in the years thereafter.
A BHL’s main duty, according to Christian, is to provide enforcement and outreach with the local unhoused population, in terms of connecting people with mental health services and county agencies, which requires more training.
Cabral called all the private security firms “extraordinarily qualified” and had recommended Allied Universal for its scale and scope and ability to adjust according to the city’s needs.
He also highlighted Police Services’ work in North Beach, as Christian had previously committed to increasing the police presence there, and said he wanted to supplement the deputies’ coverage and let people know the city has codes that must be followed by all in town.
“They can’t stand and watch the violations all day,” he said. “(That presence is) what we really need in order to ensure the public is safe at various locations throughout our city.”
Knoblock referenced the reported increase of “criminal activity in North Beach” that hasn’t been addressed to the residents’ liking, and said that Christian’s recent direction in the area helped to alleviate his frustrations of firms not being able to immediately get up and running.
“I think Capt. Christian has martialed his resources effectively and the results at North Beach are dramatic,” he said, adding, “I haven’t been down there once where there hasn’t been one or two vehicles with deputies not in their car but on the asphalt, walking and doing the job.”
He said that his thoughts on the private security matter have shifted to wanting less security for a smaller timeframe and working through the budgeting process to have more deputies on the streets according to Christian’s secondary proposal.
“I’m wondering in my core whether we really need to have this kind of expenditure, to that extent for a private firm, when the sheriff’s department is doing such a great job presently,” said Knoblock.
Councilmember Mark Enmeier echoed Knoblock’s sentiments regarding the deputies’ efficacy and having one behavioral health officer and more deputies.
He added that he feared that troubles with the landmark case Martin v. City of Boise, which restricts enforcement of overnight camping without viable lodging solutions in town, would continue to be a legal threat, and that he has heard from contacts in town that unhoused people who dispersed from North Beach have moved on to other areas in town.
Mayor Chris Duncan agreed with Knoblock’s desire for more deputies, although he favored creating a new patrol area with four officers.
Cabral also asked Christian to speak about his proposal, since the subcommittee didn’t interview the police chief during the research process.
Christian said that the reasoning behind creating a new zone for North Beach and the Pier Bowl area was to decrease officer response time, and that adding a behavior health officer would cover the Saturdays through Mondays the current officer does not work.
“We could still do the patrol zone, but it wouldn’t be covered seven days a week with two additional deputies,” he said. “But maybe we could have that zone for our busiest times like the weekends, 24 hours a day.”
Christian added that he understood the high costs of law enforcement, of which $305,347 is to bring in each deputy, including their salary, employee benefits, patrol training, and body-worn camera and radio, along with additional equipment and vehicle costs.
A slow season has allowed Christian to direct deputies from other patrol areas to provide an additional presence in the area, but the anticipated influx of tourists and beach visitors to San Clemente will affect the department’s approach, another reason for an additional zone, according to Christian.
He wouldn’t go so far as to recommend one approach over the other even as Cabral pushed for a response.
Christian also took a moment to speak on behalf of his deputies’ training and authority to write citations and transport people to jail, actions private security cannot perform.
The other competing firms included FireWatch Solutions, Gatekeeprs Security Services, and High Level Security Solutions.
The San Clemente-based FireWatch indicated it was flexible to work with the city regarding hours and the number of on-site officers, who would be equipped with vehicles and body cameras but are unarmed, according to the subcommittee’s report.
FireWatch has “limited experience” working with government and submitted two proposals: $41,520 per month for two officers to work 12 hours a day, and $126,764 a month for 24-hour services with four officers.
The report identified High Level as the most enforcement-minded company of the candidates, with experience working with government agencies and led by a founder with law enforcement background.
“All of their officers are armed with lethal weapons, used only for defense,” the report read. “In more than 14 years in business, an officer has yet to draw their lethal weapon.”
High Level proposed providing 24-hour coverage with two officers at the cost of $94,080 per month.
Gatekeepers, which appeared in front of the council in March, initially proposed operating for 60 days on a 24/7 basis at a monthly rate of $131,400.
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