Private Security Team Hired by City of Champaign to Patrol Downtown Area – Illinois

A team of private security guards hired by the City of Champaign, Illinois have arrived to patrol the downtown area during busy hours for the rest of the summer.

The Champaign City Council approved the use of private security guards to perform downtown policing at their May 3^rd, 2022 meeting.  The City’s March 2022 Request for Proposals (RFP) described the need for private security to deal with issues such as noise, trash, loitering, fights, and shootings.

According to City Manager Dorothy David, the employees of AGB Security Service will not carry any type of weapons, but they will have body worn cameras.  It remains unclear if the private security team will have the ability to detain or arrest people, but in a photo provided by the Champaign Police Department, one of the AGB employees is carrying handcuffs.

Check CU previously published two articles on this issue which contain documents from the City of Champaign regarding their search requirements for a private security team:

City of Champaign to Hire Private Security for Downtown Area

City Manager Explains Private Security for Downtown Area – Champaign, Illinois