Discussion about making the Dover Public Library safer is continuing.
Visitors to the Dover Public Library in the coming weeks may be greeted at the door by a private security guard.
Visitors to the Dover Public Library in the coming weeks may be greeted at the door by a private security guard.
But that guard will not be armed. City leaders recently met and decided to back down from their initial plan to go that route.
Dover’s city manager Donna Mitchell says everyone is in agreement an unarmed guard is the right decision - for now, “We developed a protocol...we’ve run in by the (Police) Chief, the Mayor and the library director for the security guard to work under. And we’ve all agreed that we’re going to start without the armed guard and try the unarmed guard and see if that helps with the issues that we’ve had at the library. And it it doesn’t, then we would revert to the armed security.”
Mitchell adds that for now the city has decided to hire unarmed private security guards, but could arm them if necessary, “The armed security guard does have more training than an unarmed security guard. So what we are doing is - we’re actually hiring the armed security guard(s), just not having them carry the arm until we see how it goes. So they won’t be carrying the firearm but they’re going to be trained to carry a firearm in case we do need to have the firearm.”
The debate over tightening security was prompted by a man allegedly committing a lewd act at the library in June - seen by a teenager.
Since then, library staff have placed dead-bolt locks on bathroom doors in an attempt to make the restrooms safer.
Mitchell says the City is currently negotiating with two contractors - Gettier Security and Sunstates Security - to hire two unarmed security guards. She says the City’s current budget includes $60,000 to pay for them.
