Increased security could soon come to downtown Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — In one month, downtown Champaign will open its entertainment district. On Tuesday night, the city council will decide if they want to hire private security to help monitor the area.
The plan would see a part of Market Street closed to traffic on Fridays and Saturdays from Memorial Day to late October. Champaign Police say the idea is to have the private security act as another source of protection in addition to the department. It’s all part of the city’s goals for safety and fun.
“I want everyone to have fun and come downtown in the summer. It’s not so scary,” said Matthis Helmick, owner of Plant Mode in downtown Champaign.
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He said there’s been a stigma associated with the area recently. Now, the city council will decide if they want to hire outside security. It would be part of a $184,000 contract with Securitas security services.
“We want to make sure that people enter through these three checkpoints that allow access to this district,” said Kurt Buckley, a patrol lieutenant with the Champaign Police Department. “People can walk freely and feel safe inside, and security is simply going to act as event staff.”
Security would check bags and oversee the area. Buckley said this extra help would be in addition to city police.
“We want people to have a fun time downtown. We want people to feel safe. And we hope that by being visible, by people seeing both security and officers in the downtown area, it allows them to feel a certain amount of comfort, of safety, of just visiting downtown businesses and in particular, this Market Street.”
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Helmick hopes more people patrolling the area will make people feel more comfortable to enjoy the entertainment district and help local businesses this summer.
“Something I’ve heard is, people are afraid of downtown Champaign, and I honestly feel like all of that’s overblown,” he said. “There’s been incidents — super sad, recent ones that have happened — but I don’t think that’s an every-weekend occurrence or even, you know, a once a summer occurrence. So, yeah, people hear the word ‘security’ and if they feel more secure and want to get out and about, I think that’s good.”
Security would be unarmed and would maintain the district’s three entry checkpoints. The overwhelming expectation is that this agreement is passed on Tuesday night.
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