DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Starting in two weeks, the city of Daytona Beach will launch a pilot program to have security officers patrol Beach Street.
The downtown area on Beach Street is the center of a $100 million redevelopment project, but business owners now say they need it to be safer.
“There’s got to be a happy medium between helping people and keeping the business alive,” Scot Lawson said.
Lawson’s restaurant McK’s Tavern is right on the main strip of businesses.
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“We’ve had to call the cops several times to have people removed, to stop bothering the tables,” he said.
Lawson said that’s happened a lot more in recent months with a growing homeless population in the city. As a non-emergency call, he said the police don’t always get there right in time.
The city is now answering these business owners’ requests for more security.
“If merchants have a direct way of being able to contact them directly and if they show up, that’s sometimes all you need,” he said.
Two security guards will start on March 25. During the 60-day pilot, the security officers will help the businesses with any issues and if things get out of hand, they can get police on their radios quickly.
“The services for the First Coast Security Company, they will be coming from Monday to Saturday, and they will start at 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.,” said Phebe Fuqua, the Project Manager for Redevelopment and Neighborhood Services for the city.
Fuqua said the pilot will cost about $25,000 and the city will track the security guards’ movements and hot spot locations.
“It’s all about collecting the data to see do we need more patrol, how can we strategically target the entire redevelopment area,” she said.
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