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City Council Votes to Beef Up Security at City Facilities

The upshot: Contracted city security may be working in all four districts.

EYE IN THE SKY: Pigeon lands on security camera pole at Clinton Triangle Temporary Alternative Shelter Site. (Brian Burk)
By Sophie Peel

The Portland City Council voted last week to pour an additional $8.5 million into an existing security contract with Allied Universal Security Services, which provides security officers at city facilities.

The ordinance also extended the existing contract by three years, until 2027, increasing the contract’s total price tag to $24 million.

As WW previously reported, city officials handling the new government transition have grappled with how to standardize security protocols across the four new voting districts where members of the 2025 City Council will maintain offices. Standardizing the existing system would cost an untenable amount, according to city staff. (City Hall’s security system—including security officers, security cameras and badge access—is connected and made possible by a fiber network strung above the streets like phone lines and running underground.)

The upshot: Contracted security guards may be working in all four districts.

“This increase and contract extension will enable the City to address the increased service requests from various bureaus and ensure business continuity while the City transitions to a new form of government, and while City leadership works to develop and implement a fully integrated citywide security division,” the ordinance reads.

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