"This is a modernization of security and a collaboration with all agencies in the city that has never been accomplished before," said Aaron Zeff, CEO of HQ Security.
Michael Ault, executive director of DSP, said feedback from local business owners was that they appreciated the work to boost economic engagement, new lighting and marketing for downtown, but at the end of the day it was crime and blight that have been impacting their bottom line for years.
Ault says to that end, DSP invested $1 million into their clean and safe initiatives downtown, including the ramped-up private security patrols.
"We've seen a huge change, I think, not just in the perception but the reality on the street," said Ault. "It's made a real difference for us in being proactive. We're hearing directly from the businesses that not only does it look better, but it feels better."
The 2022 K Street shooting, Sacramento's deadliest mass shooting, left a stain downtown that has been difficult to overcome.
"Pre-COVID in 2019, in the grid in the central city here, we had a little over 100,000 employees. During the peak of the pandemic, [we] were at 30,000 to 40,000 employees. When you take out two-thirds to three-quarters of those employees downtown, it absolutely impacts perception and foot traffic," said Ault.
HQ Security is serving as the eyes and ears of the main corridor, with a focus on constant patrols every day along J, K and L Streets as well as the Downtown Commons and Old Sacramento.
The guards are armed only with less-lethal weapons and respond to lower-level calls that might not prompt a full police response.
HQ Security patrol vehicle on K Street
In interactions with the area's unhoused population, Zeff says his patrol officers focus on building relationships, providing water and getting them resources but will not allow them to camp on private property, which often impacts downtown business owners.
Zeff says they are able to help supplement, not replace, Sacramento Police.
Sacramento Police tell CBS Sacramento it is a positive partnership.
Sacramento police do patrol downtown when not on high priority calls, including from their brand-new bike patrol substation that opened earlier this year near the downtown tunnel on K Street.
It is an idea Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho says he wanted to bring home to support police and his prosecutors.
He called the private security patrols the newest link in that chain.
Local business owners say they have noticed downtown feels safer and that there is more foot traffic.
For Curtis Chapman, who has owned Indivisual Eyes on K Street for 32 years, the changes are helping with the optics of downtown.
As for the patrols, he says he is always happy to see them drive by his business daily.
As for hard numbers on if the patrols have been successful in reducing crime and encampments, it is a bit too soon to quantify as the contract is just four months old.
However, the overall trend is positive when it comes to violent crime and property crimes.
CBS Sacramento asked Young what Sacramento Police attribute the drop in crime to.
For those groups, the race to making downtown Sacramento safer is a marathon, not a sprint.
"Is there some work to do? Absolutely. But we're hopeful about downtown's future," said Ault.
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