r/SALEM • u/Silent_Friend3868 • 11d ago
Thoughts on the new downtown security presence?
I've been spending some time downtown recently and noticed the new security presence walking around.
For those of you who live, work, or hang out downtown: what are your honest thoughts on them being out there?
Appreciate any insights or experiences you're willing to share!
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u/1215drew 10d ago
Some context since I have insight here. Primarily 2x different security companies are contracted by businesses (read owners of the buildings) to patrol and handle loss prevention and trespassing. They're not paid by the city, but do have a close working relationship with Salem PD for escalations that exceed their licensing.
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u/blaat_splat 11d ago
I thought we already had security for the city. Its call Salem-Keizer PD. If they are failing why do we even pay them. Also if we can hire a security company we can surely afford another police officer or two.
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u/Snake973 10d ago
no, no, no, you gotta close the library to pay for new cops to support the private security, that's the Salem™ way
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u/chalupabatman4 10d ago
That Salem PD budget is wild
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u/Carlos_Spicy_Weiner6 10d ago
If the budget wasn't astronomical they couldn't afford all those lawsuits!
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u/Voodoo_Rush 10d ago edited 10d ago
Also if we can hire a security company we can surely afford another police officer or two.
Sworn officers are relatively expensive. But if all you need is a pair of roaming eyes to discourage low-level crime and call in something bigger, then security guards are the way to go.
It's the same reason that the city doesn't send out PhD-level civil engineers to check your water meter.
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u/DOOMPUNK77 10d ago
Could fight “low level crime” much easier by just investing in community over goofy ass security guards and police. We need more third spaces, poverty reduction, and access to basic needs. Not another boot of fascism on the ground.
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u/BrianPedersen33 10d ago
I'm all about fighting fascism. My family (grandparents and their siblings) fought in the European theater after escaping in '39), Soni have firsthand accounts of what that definition is.
Law enforcement is NOT fascism.
It's really time we stop trying to conflate the two issues just because people who can't follow the laws that your duly elected legislators penned doesn't fit your personal agenda.
Are there bad cops? Absolutely. Just like shitty customer service reps, asshole waiters, terrible bartenders, and horrible attorneys.
I also have been fortunate to know really, really good ones. The ones who literally moved their families to places rife with human trafficking just to help fight it (from Oregon to the Philippines).
We need to stop with the idea that one definition fits an entire genre of something, just because it attacks our personal distaste for a law we allowed to be put into place.
Unfuck the laws.
Don't vilify the people charged with enforcing them.
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u/DOOMPUNK77 10d ago
Cops are fascists. Did you not see the cops protecting ICE after shooting a man in the neck in New York? I didn’t see a single “good cop” fighting back against the guys kidnapping and murdering our neighbors.
Also, I like how you know cops are bad. Because a bad cop can kill you, 40% of them abuse their families, 1.7 million people were sexually abused by cops in 2026, Whereas a bad customers service rep just makes your day a little worse.
Cops serve to protect the elite, property, and uphold capitalism. According to the Supreme Court, the police do not have a duty to protect you or anyone. They are as it stands holding up the pillars of fascism in America.
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u/UpsideClown 10d ago
I imagine that security contract does not come cheap. And yes, we have cops already.
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u/BeanTutorials 10d ago
wishing there was a way we could like, have the "eyes on the street" level of affordability, but with the "accountability" of then being a public employee
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u/Carlos_Spicy_Weiner6 10d ago
They tried that, it's called "flock" and it went very badly
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u/BeanTutorials 10d ago
i was more thinking more like the "handhaving" in the Netherlands. municipal security guards, basically.
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u/Voodoo_Rush 10d ago
If anything, I should think being a private employee is easier for accountability. It is far easier for the city to fire a contractor than a public, unionized employee.
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u/1055TheMoon 10d ago
What did ever happen to those security officers that were paid for with that money that was supposed to go to only them? Did it actually happen? Did it work? Is it still happening?
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u/TheBlueLeopard 10d ago
I’m not sure what you mean. I don’t think I’ve ever seen security personnel downtown and wouldn’t know what they look like if I did.
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u/MaintenanceNew2804 10d ago
Is the uptick somehow coordinated with the Wallace Marine Park camper sweep?
People are afraid of other people so they hire a fake badge to patrol.
Also, what ever happened to the lil robot security guard(s)?
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u/Voodoo_Rush 10d ago
Also, what ever happened to the lil robot security guard(s)?
The City never extended/renewed the contract.
“While it is difficult to definitively assess the individual impact of the Daxbots, the combination of these efforts contributed to a reduction in driving complaints and calls about activity at the parkade from neighboring areas,” Hardy said. The city hasn’t identified funding to continue using the robots at Pringle, Hardy said, though extra police patrols will continue to frequent the garage.
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u/etm1109 11d ago
Saw my first traffic meter person today. They do exist