Private security patrols ramp up in Downtown Sacramento to improve public safety

A new partnership in Downtown Sacramento was formed this year to help promote public safety, and area stakeholders say they are already noticing a big difference. 

"This is a modernization of security and a collaboration with all agencies in the city that has never been accomplished before," said Aaron Zeff, CEO of HQ Security.

HQ Security was hired by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP), a nonprofit property-based improvement district, on a one-year contract to ramp up private patrols in the downtown corridor and help cut down on crime and encampments on private property. 

Michael Ault, executive director of DSP, said feedback from local business owners was that they appreciated the work to boost economic engagement, new lighting and marketing for downtown, but at the end of the day it was crime and blight that have been impacting their bottom line for years. 

"We really need to see more emphasis in the way of public safety, maintenance, security," said Ault. 

Ault says to that end, DSP invested $1 million into their clean and safe initiatives downtown, including the ramped-up private security patrols. 

Four months into the contract with HQ Security, Ault says there is a noticeable difference. 

"We've seen a huge change, I think, not just in the perception but the reality on the street," said Ault. "It's made a real difference for us in being proactive. We're hearing directly from the businesses that not only does it look better, but it feels better."

It is no secret downtown has struggled with its image for years. 

The 2022 K Street shooting, Sacramento's deadliest mass shooting, left a stain downtown that has been difficult to overcome. 

This summer, as state workers return to the office under the Governor's mandate, there are more people downtown on a daily basis than there have been in six years since the pandemic. 

"Pre-COVID in 2019, in the grid in the central city here, we had a little over 100,000 employees. During the peak of the pandemic, [we] were at 30,000 to 40,000 employees. When you take out two-thirds to three-quarters of those employees downtown, it absolutely impacts perception and foot traffic," said Ault. 

Improving the image downtown has been the goal of DSP for years. 

HQ Security is serving as the eyes and ears of the main corridor, with a focus on constant patrols every day along J, K and L Streets as well as the Downtown Commons and Old Sacramento. 

"We flood the zone on Fridays and Saturday night, but during the day at minimum there is always two patrol cars and a supervisor in the downtown sector," said Zeff. 

The guards are armed only with less-lethal weapons and respond to lower-level calls that might not prompt a full police response. 

"There's no other security company in the region that provides the training, the professional equipment, the vehicles, the technology and safety elements that we have decided to deploy," said Zeff. 

In interactions with the area's unhoused population, Zeff says his patrol officers focus on building relationships, providing water and getting them resources but will not allow them to camp on private property, which often impacts downtown business owners. 

"The idea is the interaction shouldn't be confrontational, the interaction should be supportive," said Zeff. "Being homeless isn't a crime, but we are here to support and get those people the help that they need." 

Zeff says they are able to help supplement, not replace, Sacramento Police. 

"One hundred and twenty calls that could have went to law enforcement every single day are now being addressed by HQ Security," said Zeff. "We're just one piece of the wheel." 

Sacramento Police tell CBS Sacramento it is a positive partnership. 

"I think having those extra patrols down there, they can triage a lot of stuff that maybe doesn't meet the priority level of a full police response by a police officer," said Captain Robert Young of the Sacramento Police Department. 

Sacramento police do patrol downtown when not on high priority calls, including from their brand-new bike patrol substation that opened earlier this year near the downtown tunnel on K Street. 

"Unfortunately, there's only so many of us to go around. So the resources get capped at a certain point," said Young. "Private security patrol will quite frankly never be able to replace a police response, right? We are two separate entities, but when they're working in collaboration and partnership with one another, the long-term goal is extremely positive."

It is an idea Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho says he wanted to bring home to support police and his prosecutors. 

"When you're looking at public safety, it's really a chain. And there's different links in that chain," said Ho. 

He called the private security patrols the newest link in that chain. 

"It's just not the prosecution side. We have to work upstream in regards to prevention and intervention," said Ho. "We need more eyes on the streets. We need more interaction on the street so that we can help and supplement public safety."

Local business owners say they have noticed downtown feels safer and that there is more foot traffic. 

"It's bringing some good positive energy to downtown, which is sorely needed right now," said Kevin Fat, owner of Frank Fat's restaurant on L Street. "There's been improvements. Yes. Is there a lot more improvements to be made? Yes." 

For Curtis Chapman, who has owned Indivisual Eyes on K Street for 32 years, the changes are helping with the optics of downtown. 

"We were definitely seeing a lot of nonsense happening down here and nothing was being done. I would literally have to physically move people out of the front of the store," said Chapman. 

As for the patrols, he says he is always happy to see them drive by his business daily. 

"I think he's the new sheriff in town and I'm definitely seeing some differences," said Chapman. 

As for hard numbers on if the patrols have been successful in reducing crime and encampments, it is a bit too soon to quantify as the contract is just four months old. 

HQ Security data shows calls in to Sacramento Police 911 have gone down since HQ started patrolling, but Young argues that is not always the perfect indicator of less crime, but could point to more preventative action taking place. 

However, the overall trend is positive when it comes to violent crime and property crimes. 

"Our crime is down not only in the downtown area, but citywide as a whole," said Young. 

CBS Sacramento asked Young what Sacramento Police attribute the drop in crime to. 

"We contribute that to the relationship building, working in collaboration, in a partnership with all the workers that are downtown, the visitors downtown, the tourism aspect of downtown, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and all the other groups that we work with," said Young. 

For those groups, the race to making downtown Sacramento safer is a marathon, not a sprint. 

"Is there some work to do? Absolutely. But we're hopeful about downtown's future," said Ault.