DES MOINES, Iowa — The Des Moines city council had a full agenda for their May 23 meeting. One of those things was deciding whether or not to approve a new private security contract for city buildings.
Just having private security at city buildings isn't new; that started in early 2020. The vote ended service with Per Mar Security and awarded the contract, worth approximately $500,000, to a different company, Signal of Des Moines.
The new proposal would put armed private security personnel inside Des Moines City Hall, the Argonne Armory, Municipal Service Centers, as well as various special meetings as needed. According to the city, personnel will be handling sign-in procedures, getting security badges for visitors, and operating metal detectors and security screenings.
They say these changes first started to be considered in 2019, following a mass shooting at a city building in Virginia Beach. But some residents are concerned that the additional security may be keeping residents from speaking up at meetings.
"They know more people want to come out to their meetings. And this is a restriction that if you want to come to their meetings, you have to comply with these airport TSA restriction rules, which people obviously don't like and make a lot of people uncomfortable," said Adam Callanan, an organizer with the Des Moines People's Town Hall.
Another concern raised by some residents—the new contract was on the city council's consent agenda. That meant that the security contract passed automatically since no city council member asked to have a separate discussion. For those with complaints, that can be frustrating.
"If they do have legitimate reasons for hiring the security, and taking these actions, they can discuss that publicly and let public comment. They haven't done that, which just does not allow us to put in a good faith into what they're doing, because they can't even explain it themselves," Callanan said.
With the contract approved, the transition to Signal is expected to occur in early July 2022.