Council discusses restoring downtown security services, wants request for proposal at next council meeting
Wants it to include broader option of other parts of city
By Allen D. Payton
Following meetings held with downtown business owners and community members regarding hours of operation, patrol locations, scope of services and other identified needs and issues, during their meeting on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the Antioch City Council discussed restoring private security services to the City-owned parking lots in downtown Rivertown. But the discussion expanded to other issues and possible broader private security services throughout the city.
First approved by the Council in 2023, according to the city staff report, the contract with Brentwood-based Shield Protection & Public Safety, Inc., DBA Spearhead Protection, for private security services of City-owned assets and parking lots in the Rivertown area was for an amount not to exceed $50,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 (ending June 30th) and $100,000 in fiscal year 2024-25. It was renewed for the 2025-26 fiscal year and the private security contract ended on June 30th.
Under Item 6, on the agenda, the Council was asked to discuss downtown security services for City owned parking lots, property and public areas, and provide direction to staff on whether to initiate a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process for private security services in the Rivertown/Downtown area.
Mayor Pro Tem and District 3 Councilman Don Freitas was the first council member to speak saying, “Frankly, this issue came to us from the Downtown Antioch Association. Because…there have been more and more reports since the security has stopped. We began asking a lot of questions…and all of us received input from the DAA and Chamber of Commerce.”
“They complimented the police department and some of the crime prevention efforts,” he continued. “But crime has risen since the services have stopped.”
“Clearly the hours from their perspective, about 30 people were in attendance and 60% said they wanted different hours,” Freitas said. “There are a lot of issues that came out of this. Conceptually, yes, I believe services should be provided. But I don’t know what should be provided. There are a lot of options: Hours of operation. There are businesses that were under contract but did not perform.”
Acting City Manager Ana Cortez responded saying, “What I’m seeking tonight is direction. Does Council want to continue with private security services? If yes, we’d have to proceed with a request for proposal process, since the previous contract ended. We would put all the input into a scope of services.”
“Private security services represent one aspect,” Freitas continued. “The lighting in the downtown, the homelessness issue, the cleanliness. All of that was discussed extensively by the business owners and private residents. This should be comprehensive and not just in the downtown.”
“But, we said, there needs to be a public-private partnership,” he stated. “This cannot be just the City of Antioch. This cannot be just the General Fund. This needs to be a collaborative effort.”
“What’s really confusing about the process is that…it explicitly says security services will be used for City-owned properties and parking lots…it will not be to patrol privately-owned property,” District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker stated, asking “Is their focus, City-owned property downtown? If I see somebody breaking into a business, do I ignore it?”
“I think they would report that to the police department,” Cortez responded. “That’s something that would be included in the scope of work.”
“I expected to see a fully drafted Request for Proposal…and that’s not here,” Torres-Walker continued. “In addition to a public-private partnership.”
She then spoke of an overlay district and said, “I know that’s a longer-term strategy.”
“This does involve a bigger discussion,” she continued. “I know the mayor pro tem and I are appointed to the Downtown Standing Committee. What I would request…is that we as a City, we might want to reassess the potential of that standing committee and establish an ad-hoc committee. Is the standing committee still necessary? What would a task force look like? It’s kind of hard to have dialogue and workshop in a standing committee.”
District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson then said, “Although there is a list of what the private security will do…then there’s also the expectations of our businesses which don’t align. A lot of this seems to be more of a police department issue.
“This is about public property, not a private business,” she continued. “How are we going to make this work with the expectations of
“It’s a Code Enforcement issue, it’s a Public Works issue…we got into a parking issue and turns out, some of the worst offenders are the business owners,” Freitas stated. “Frankly, one of the parties is the railroad. That is a big issue in the downtown and we seem to ignore it until we handle it until the next time. I think we need to have a broader discussion.”
“I don’t want to dismiss the issue of needing security in downtown, right now,” Torres-Walker added. “It needs to include a larger community voice.”
“I can come back to the next council meeting with an RFP,” Cortez responded.
“One of the other issues that isn’t addressed, necessarily in the current parking lots, at the water treatment plant, we’ve had calls for service…if there are other areas of the city that are having issues,” Mayor Ron Bernal stated.
“This is about one security guard. Is one enough?” he asked. “Not just in downtown.”
“I think we also need to look at the Downtown Specific Plan…I think that would be important,” Bernal added.
“We do want to include the entire city, not just the downtown,” Cortez stated.
“In talking to the chief, I included other parts of town…it should be expanded,” said Bernal.
“We need to hear from Public Works, Code Enforcement…if the hours are correct. I think the way we had it did not work,” said Freitas.
“Moving those around is the best model,” Bernal interjected.
“I thought it was very good for all council members and staff, the chief to hear these dialogues…having that dialogue was very, very helpful,” Freitas stated. “Some things came up that we never hear. I think an ad hoc is better than a steering (he meant standing) committee which has other rules.”
Torres-Walker then asked what about businesses in other parts of Antioch.
“Are security officers armed, are they not armed, do they have lights on their patrol cars?” Bernal asked.
“And what businesses are already paying for private security?” Torres-Walker asked. “They might be in a commercial lot with other private businesses. She then reiterated her proposal for a public-private partnership.
“It started as a focus on the downtown,” Cortez explained. “It turned out to be a bigger issue.”
Cortez will return with a proposed RFP or RFQ for discussion at the Council meeting on Oct. 13th.
