DAYTONA BEACH — For reasons that remain a bit of a mystery, the stubborn Beach Street vagrancy problems that had ebbed in recent years flared up again last summer and have lingered.
So on April 15, the city launched a pilot program that provides security officers on the riverfront corridor six days a week from Orange Avenue to a little north of Bay Street.
The plan seems to have worked.
"I haven't seen any of the issues. They completely stopped," said Al Brewer, owner of Evans & Son Jewelers on Beach Street, located just north of Orange Avenue. "The presence of homeless evaporated 100%. My 93-year-old mother walks up and down Beach Street, and I'm totally happy with her doing that."
Another Beach Street business owner said the sunup to sundown presence of uniformed security guards has been "fabulous."
"We're excited about it. We wanted it for quite a while," said Sheryl Cook, co-owner of Tom Cook Jeweler, which is a little south of International Speedway Boulevard.
The 60-day security guard pilot program will continue into mid-June, and then city commissioners will be asked if they want to make the unarmed guards a permanent fixture.
If the answer is yes, it will be the latest investment in the Beach Street corridor which has seen a more than $100 million investment pour into the area in the past few years including the Riverfront Esplanade, the Brown & Brown insurance headquarters tower, Jackie Robinson Ballpark improvements, and Beach Street road and sidewalk refurbishment.
It's all part of a larger effort to revitalize the historic downtown riverfront where Daytona had its beginnings as a city, and where residents once did much of their shopping, dining and socializing.
How security guard program started
Several months ago, business owners on Beach circulated a petition seeking more of a police presence on the road. Patrols increased for about two weeks last summer and then faded due to a manpower issue, police told the city.
Business owners met with Mayor Derrick Henry and the private security idea was hatched.
Now two officers cover foot patrol shifts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day except Sunday. When they see problems, they use their radios to summon police for help.
That approach has already worked. Last week, one of the guards went behind a business and crossed paths with the victim of a car break-in. The guard kept a suspect talking at the scene until police arrived and arrested him.
Jacksonville-based First Coast Security provides the service. It also patrols the Riverfront Esplanade, Brown & Brown's Beach Street property, and Brown & Brown's Ridgewood Avenue property. It's a coordinated effort that uses security cameras, radios and officers.
Residents and business owners can use a new app called See and Click to alert security officers.
How much the program costs
The city is covering the full cost of the security officers, who are being paid $24.60 per hour. The full cost for 60 days is $23,616.
City Manager Deric Feacher is using his discretionary funding to cover costs, and he could spend up to $24,998 on the venture without city commissioners' approval.
The money for the guards is coming from Downtown Redevelopment Area funds.
City commissioners didn't object to the plan when it was discussed at the March 5 meeting. City Commissioner Quanita May, who runs a business on Magnolia Avenue just off Beach Street, said she "absolutely" wanted to see security guards come to the area.
If the city wants to make the guards permanent, it will have to put out a request for proposals. City staff would choose the bidder with the lowest cost who met all the city requirements. City commissioners would then make the final decision.
'That's the perfect world'
Business owners and downtown residents say begging has gotten bad again along Beach Street and at major intersections throughout the city since the city's ordinance that regulates panhandling was blocked by a judge in August while a legal challenge was being considered.
Police can still enforce laws that address trespassing, assault, theft, drug dealing and other crimes the downtown vagrants have been accused of.
Brewer said he hasn't seen the security guards, and that's OK with him.
"I don't see the security guards, or the transients, or the homeless, so that's the perfect world," he said.
He hopes it stays that way.
"It could change tomorrow if they pull back, so I think it needs to be an ongoing thing," Brewer said. "We just don't want anyone interfering with people shopping and eating."
He said he "couldn't be happier" with all of the improvements and investment downtown.
Omar Brown, who owns and runs Kale Cafe on Beach Street with his wife, has seen the security guards and spoken with them.
"I'm sure it's a deterrent just having them there," Brown said. "I think it's going great."
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
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