Private security patrols to begin in Federal Hill next month
Baltimore MD March 9 2018 Federal Hill’s business district will get an extra layer of security starting April 1.
The area on the South Baltimore peninsula that includes Cross Street Market and the busy restaurant district around Charles and Light streets will be be patrolled by the private Wolf Professional Security of Owings Mills.
The foot and vehicle patrols will be paid for by the business owners and will work on a hourly basis, likely five days a week.
“I’m not sure how long we’re going to need this, but we want people from the county — from the counties — to come back down here,” said Hank Shofer, president of the Federal Hill Business Association, on Wednesday.
The Wolf security company employs retired and off-duty Baltimore County police officers as part of its force, and has also been hired to patrol Charles Village, Harbor East and Fells Point, said Craig Stoner, chairman of the board of the nonprofit Federal Hill Main Street, which will oversee the effort. Wolf was also hired by the Downtown Partnership Baltimore in December to send in a team of 15 officers to patrol the Central Business District during the holiday season at a cost of about $30,000.
It is the latest move by the local business community toward becoming more proactive in public safety.
Many business owners have said their revenue was down by up to 35 percent over the past two years, while others have closed down completely following a drop in business related to what they say is a negative perception of Baltimore.
That was fostered by the 2015 unrest in the city following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody and a record 343 murders last year, including the November homicide of 41-year-old bartender Alexander Wroblewski outside a Locust Point Royal Farms store after his shift had ended.
During a January meeting of business owners in Fells Point, the crime issue prompted a debate.
During a meeting at the Greater Baltimore Committee Thursday morning centered on public safety and crime reduction, Drew Vetter, who heads the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, said he “had not discussed” the economic impact of local businesses having to hire private security forces as an extra layer of safety on the city’s streets.
“The police department coordinates closely with private security firms the more eyes and ears we have in the community, the better,” Vetter said. “What we want to ensure is that those security forces are very coordinated with the police in sharing information and responses.”
The need for hiring a private security force in Federal Hill arose in the wake of a spike in violent crime in the community and in the city as a whole, Stoner said. Business owners have complained for months that the crime has has directly impacted their revenues, he said last month.
In early February, the Federal Hill Business Association was briefed by Stoner on a push to hire the private security after his group sent out a request seeking proposals.
After bids were sent in by Feb. 16, Wolf was selected this week, he said. The details are still being worked out, he said, but the patrols are expected to begin April 1.
“We will be working with them over the next week to discuss timing,” he said, adding that having Wolf in other nearby neighborhoods was an advantage.
“They are dialed in to what’s going on in neighborhoods and downtown and it makes it a good fit for us to piggy back off of that for what we’re needing,” he said. “They are also very flexible in their ability to work with us on timing and the days of week they are needed and their expertise of what they bring.”
Federal Hill business owners will help to help pay for the security force through an assessment based on their property taxes, Stoner told them last month. The costs were still uncertain.
Hank Shofer, owner of Shofer’s Furniture on South Charles Street, said he believes the private patrols will be positive and funded.
“At some point everyone has to realize this is not a free service,” Shofer said. “We’re hoping that everyone is going to get on board and pay for this.
“We have to walk the walk, and others need to see people down here. That’s really what the goal is here, to have real crime reduction and work. It’s a win-win formula.”
The unarmed patrols are paid hourly and are expected to cost a total of about $250,000 a year, Stoner said. They will patrol the Federal Hill Business District including Ostend, Light, Hanover and Montgomery streets.
Baltimore Business Journal
