Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, the beach community’s business improvement district, has until the first of the year to decide whether or not to extend a trial period for use of two security guards in a program dedicated to keeping Ocean Beach family friendly while enhancing public safety.
The OB Security Program, launched during summer of 2014, has been funded primarily by business owners and residents with some additional funds from the Newport Avenue Maintenance Assessment District. The association was also awarded grant funding for $8,000 to supplement the costs of the program.
“We’re still in a three-month trial period with two security guards with varying hours four days a week,” said association executive director Denny Knox about the security program, which, among other things, patrols the beach boardwalk. “We’ve been doing this for 1½ years, and we just changed (security) companies in October.”
Knox said the security guards have been “going around and introducing themselves to all the merchants and getting them to support this program by OB MainStreet.
“We want people to feel safe here,” said Knox about the security program’s purpose. She said security guards have worked closely — and well — with police.
“They’re here for every farmers market to help us with crowds every Wednesday,” Knox noted, adding that guards have relatively broad security authority. For example, they recently tracked down a problematic patron in the business district, presenting the person with a stay-away order from a merchant.
“We’ve found them (guards) to be very responsive and interested in what they’re doing,” Knox said. “They’ve also been to a number of crime prevention meetings and spoken at those meetings.”
The security program involves guards teaming up on bikes and riding up and down all the alleys and streets in OB as well as walking the community’s sidewalks. They patrol especially along Newport Avenue but also on Voltaire Street and near Dog Beach.
Since March, the security guard team has been scheduled for five shifts a week, with varying times depending on when the neighborhood has the greatest need for support.
According to stats compiled in the beach security program, Code 647, disorderly conduct, including loitering on private property, drunk in public and illegal lodging on provide property, is the most common incident reported by the security guard team. Sometimes, they’ve had as many as three to eight Code 647s in one eight-hour day.
Illegal dumping is a close second in Code 647, with multiple reports each day that the security team is on duty. The team noted that a huge amount of furniture and trash is dumped daily in OB’s alleys. Every single day, the team calls for pick-ups to remove the trash, furniture, couches, beds et cetera.
Code 52.20, obstruction of public sidewalks, is another frequent issue dealt with by security guards who persuade obstructionists to move along.
Code 594, graffiti, is yet another very common issue. When found, the security team immediately contacts the City of San Diego to help with graffiti clean-up. The City requires graffiti on private property to be cleaned up within 24 hours. Landlords and renters are responsible for cleaning up their properties.
Knox said the association’s 14-member board will decide whether, and how, to extend the beach security patrol program when the issue comes up again during the new year.