Monterey city leaders discuss ideas on how to keep downtown safe
A shortage in staffing in the Monterey Police Department has prompted the city to contract a private security company to patrol downtown for the time being.
City officials say there is growing concern from residents and business owners in downtown Monterey over the safety of the city’s streets. Tuesday, they planned to decide upon the best step forward in combating that concern.
Representatives from the police department and the public spoke to the city council Tuesday night. The council was weighing several options – staff more full-time police officers, hire police interns or community service officers, or stick with the private security firm that’s already being used.
For the past three weeks, you may have seen these private security guards roaming downtown Monterey.
“They are doing a really good job,” said Joseph Aiello, who owns Aiello Jewelers.
He says the private security firm, Uretsky, has helped keep loiterers away from his business. He says he is seeing far fewer problems.
The security guard’s presence is only temporary for now, however.
The police department remains short-staffed and hiring has been an issue, but one councilmember says that it’s not for the reason most people might think.
“The morale in the police department is a little low,” said Councilmember Nancy Selfridge. “We’re working on that, it’s getting better.”
Selfridge is referring to an internal survey that came out earlier this year; It showed that 21 of the 30 Monterey police officers surveyed said they were very dissatisfied with the department. She says there have been steps to remedy that since then.
“I know that someone came in from outside the area and did some team building and interviews and his report, he has not completed his report,” Selfridge.
Monterey Police declined to respond to Selfridge’s comments, but said if the council supports hiring more officers, that could help overall.
Selfridge said she believes that increasing the staffing levels would help boost morale.
