Community members targeted by security guards paid by the City of Santa Cruz to patrol San Lorenzo Park say their free use of the area has been inhibited due to profiling. For years now, guards employed by First Alarm Security Services have been 'identifying,' and watching closely, individuals they perceive to be on probation or more generally, individuals they perceive to be undesirable for a variety of other reasons.

Individuals say that guards have developed a routine of walking directly through groups of park users identified as problematic. This is done multiple times in a day, and during the process, possessions are visually inspected at close range. First Alarm guards also stand and watch park users for long periods of time from nearby locations.

In addition to staring, and sometimes glaring at them, individuals say that a security guard who was watching them on June 19 had also previously attempted to intimidate their group by waving his metal baton/billy club at them, and by putting on his gloves in an exaggerated manner for no apparent reason. In another incident, at the Louden Nelson Center in May a First Alarm Security guard hovered over a man who was simply trying to rest alone on the park lawn. The guard stood there without talking to his victim for at least ten minutes.

Read More with Photos | What $160,000 dollars a year buys in contracts to ‘First Alarm’ | See Also: An Activist's First Thoughts on the Lastest Propaganda from City Council Staff | Strongly Biased Public Safety Survey

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