NATIONAL CITY (FOX 5/KUSI) — National City’s public library has seen a shift in security staffing with police now stationed on-site as part of a new pilot program that launched in February.
“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the community. Staff feel a lot safer,” said National City Public Library Director, Danielle Ghio. She added, “It also gives the opportunity for our officers to get to interact with the community in a different way.”
However, not everyone is convinced the change is creating a welcoming atmosphere.
“Community members, you know, regardless of who they are, where they come from, their citizenship status, all of these things should feel safe at a library and I think having more police has the opposite effect,” said Iza Lopez, who lives in Chula Vista but works in National City and frequents the library.
One officer is assigned five days a week, except Fridays, for a few hours usually in the afternoons. The shift from security guards to police follows a rise in calls for service to law enforcement over the past year. More than 130 calls were made for a number of reasons.
“We would have individuals who come in intoxicated. We’ve had rocks thrown through our windows,” said Ghio. “Unfortunately, we’ve had people bring in weapons. We’ve had people threaten staff.”
Officials believe there are multiple factors for the uptick in complaints.
“When we had the homeless ban created that also caused an influx of people,” Ghio continued. “You know, we do see there’s a lot of events that happen in the park.”
The library is located next to Kimball Park and some want to see security enhancements beyond the library space.
“If you’re going to step it up, I want to see you in the community like set up a station in the park so these kids can feel safe,” said local resident, Cierra.
National City’s approach stands out compared to other major cities in the county.
San Diego contracts security guards at its libraries. The ones at the Central and City Heights locations are armed, while the rest are not.
Oceanside contracts unarmed security guards to patrol only the Civic Center Library, while Chula Vista libraries have no security or police presence at all.
So far, with National City’s new protocol in place, Ghio said they “haven’t had to call for any serious issues.” She added that the pilot program will run through October, at which point the city will assess how it’s going and whether to possibly extend it.
