Security Guards to Patrol Oceanside Streets : Law Enforcement: City Council approves a 90-day trial program for its crime-ridden downtown.

Residents and business owners in downtown Oceanside will have to hire private security guards if they want more protection in the crime-ridden area.

Acting on the recommendation of city Redevelopment Director Patricia Hightman, the City Council unanimously approved a 90-day trial Wednesday under which security guards will beef up police protection in the area known for drugs, prostitution and gang violence.

The redevelopment agency will pay $9,000 to Los Angeles-based Bel-Air Security Co. to get the first 24-hour-a-day armed private guard on the streets, Hightman said.

But to keep a guard on the streets for the full 90 days and possibly longer, downtown residents and property owners will be asked to pay monthly fees ranging from $5 for an apartment to $50 for a business.

“I’m excited about it,” Hightman said. “It’s certainly not going to solve every problem, but it’s a good complement to the normal city policing efforts.”

Bill Fritzsche, a downtown resident and a member of the city’s Redevelopment Advisory Committee, said the idea of private security patrols has drawn strong support from both businesses and residents.

“It’s important that we deal with this crime issue,” he said. “I think we have a great opportunity here.”

The plan also drew the endorsement of Oceanside Police Chief Bruce Dunne.

“Private security . . . can become the eyes and ears (for police) and, by their presence, they tend to dissuade criminal activity,” Dunne said.

Dunne said his officers are kept so busy answering emergency calls from residents that they have little or no time to patrol the streets to prevent crime.

“Anything we can do to help provide a police presence, whether private or uniformed, has got to help,” he said.

The financially ailing city, already strug gling to fight off a deficit by laying off employees, cannot afford to put more police on the streets, Hightman said.

“Certainly if we had all the police we want we could solve the problem that way,” she said. “But the fact is we don’t, and, with the budget, we can’t afford it.”

Brian O’Connor, Bel-Air Security’s general manager, said many communities facing budget crunches like Oceanside’s are opting for private guards. He said company officials are also negotiating with the city of Vista for a similar program there.

“As we see it, (we are) filling the gap between the highly trained and expensive police force and nothing at all,” he said.

O’Connor said his guards, either in cars or on foot patrols, can keep an eye out for disturbances and will be in direct contact with the police communications center should help be needed.

The guard will patrol the downtown in a car. It was left unclear at Wednesday’s council meeting whether the guards will make arrests or use weapons.

But later, police spokesman Bob George said, “A security guard has the same rights as a private citizen when it comes to an arrest.”

When it comes to using a weapon, “they can use a gun if necessary to protect their own life or if the life of somebody else would be in immediate peril.”

The private patrol also can discourage crime, O’Connor said. “I don’t think people . . . are going to commit robberies if they know they are being watched,” he said.

Whether downtown property owners, who have frequently demanded more police protection, will be willing to come up with the money for the guards is a question.