GOLD COAST — Worried about crime in his upscale Gold Coast neighborhood, one local resident has taken matters into his own hands by hiring a private security firm to patrol his block.
Donald Mudd hired private security firm CORE Security & Investigations Group & Consultants Inc. to patrol the 1100 block of North LaSalle Street after noticing his neighborhood "deteriorate over the last couple of years," he said in an interview with CBS.
The extra security detail comes just months after a Gold Coast shooting that left a 27-year-old man dead near Mudd's residence. Mudd reportedly has budgeted $50,000 for the security.
Howard Greer, an off-duty police officer who owns the security firm Mudd hired, has been patrolling the block since Aug. 17. Greer, 50, said his job is to secure the area around the house and patrol the block of private residential areas to get rid of unseen "sweet spots" where criminals gather.
"This area, it's not so sweet anymore," Greer told DNAinfo.
Five to six days a week, four to eight hours a day, Greer and a few other personnel from his security firm take turns patrolling the picturesque residential area. All of the security staff are off-duty police officers, including one who is a state trooper, Greer said.
Although he can arrest people breaking the law, Greer notifies on-duty police officers when he sees something questionable. He said he hasn't seen any serious criminal activity in the neighborhood yet, and the biggest problems are loitering and drug use.
Greer stressed that private security officers like himself should not be viewed as a replacement for law enforcement officials, but rather as a supplement to the Chicago Police Department.
"Extra security in the streets is a good supplement to the police," Greer said. "If you can afford it, why not?"
Greer said most residents are happy to see him in the streets and compliment him on a perceived decline in crime in the area.
Neighborhood residents echoed his sentiment.
"I've always felt that this neighborhood was safe. However, I did start to notice some seedy activity has increased recently," said Dexter Martin, 45, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade. He specifically noticed a lot more loiterers in the area.
"I do think it's a good addition to security around here," Martin said.
Some, however, felt the extra security in an already safe neighborhood was unnecessary.
"If I saw them, I would be like, 'Why are they here?' " said Jeff G., a Gold Coast resident who declined to give his full last name.
"If you can afford to pay that much for private security, why not spread it around to do something better for the neighborhood?" another longtime resident said.
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