Private security guards begin patrols in downtown Denver
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Denver has stepped up public safety efforts by adding security guards to patrol the city's downtown.
The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/2b2AELX ) that the guards, who are employed by Allied Universal Security, will monitor Denver's 16th Street Mall 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They will be unarmed, but equipped with pepper spray and handcuffs to detain people until police arrive.
The guards are part of a larger plan, introduced this summer, to boost the city's security. City officials had called for enhanced security on the mall in July to address what Mayor Michael Hancock called a "scourge of hoodlums."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, Tami Door, says the guards' tasks will include spotting rule breakers, directing homeless people to social services and serving as ambassadors to visitors.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com