Erie County hires armed security to patrol Blasco Library and nearby sites

Blasco Memorial Library patrons will see a new feature at the library starting Friday: an armed security guard.

Armed with a firearm, a baton and potentially a taser, the guard will conduct roving patrols of the library along with the nearby Erie Maritime Museum, the Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development and the Erie Intermodal Transportation Center, which houses the Erie County Department of Veterans Affairs.

The guards will come from Valentis, a Pittsburgh-based security company that Erie County recently hired on a five-year contract. Allied Universal Security Services, which had been providing unarmed security to the same sites, will no longer be providing that service, according to Erie County Public Information Officer Chris Carroll.

Valentis previously handled non-law enforcement security for the four-day Tall Ships Erie festival in 2022. The company was also awarded a contract in 2022 with the Erie Western Pennsylvania Port Authority to provide armed security, consulting and training to the Port of Erie.

Why armed guards?

Carroll said armed guards will prove a more effective safeguard for employees, patrons and residents.

"The library staff have been forced to call the police or EMS personnel many times on patrons who pose a serious risk to themselves or others," he said in an email to the Erie Times-News. "We will not allow this type of behavior to continue inside our county facilities."

Police officers have been called down to Blasco Memorial Library 33 times so far in 2023, with a case generated from 10 of those incidents, according to the Erie Bureau of Police.

Carroll said the decision to switch to armed security was not triggered by any particular incident. However, he noted that many county employees are often tasked to intervene with "unsheltered citizens suffering from untreated mental illness, drug addiction, or other problems."

"This armed security will give the employees and other citizens the peace of mind that they will be safe in the face of any incident as armed officers are more capable to respond to situations than unarmed," he said.

Carroll said only one guard will be doing roving patrols per shift. He declined to comment on whether the guards will be entering the library or other facilities.

During a Library Advisory Board meeting on Aug. 17, Erie County Public Library Director Karen Pierce referenced a number of recent incidents at the Blasco Memorial Library.

These included a drug overdose and a firing of unknown projectiles in an upstairs bathroom; an individual punching a security guard in the face and another individual throwing a chair at an employee.

Pierce said the library is also seeing a growing number of incidents involving non-patrons, including a homeless man who "camped out in front of the library for several weeks" and threatened people.

"Staff safety is a very big concern for me and to have patrons assaulting our people is scary," she said.

How much is the contract?

The county will pay $132,288 for the first and second year of the Valentis contract; $133,551 for the third year; $134,485 for the fourth year and $135,388 for the fifth year.

Carroll said the county helped defer costs by choosing not to fill two vacant positions, specifically two part-time facilities attendants that were no longer needed. He also said the state will pay 30% of the total costs.

Carroll said the county didn't have a contract with Allied Universal Security Services; rather, the county paid an hourly rate of $17.15 to staff the building with an unarmed guard.

Pierce said the Valentis contract requires guards to carry a firearm and a baton and to only carry a taser if they are trained on its use.

Library Advisory Board VP hopes de-escalation training is in place

Members of the Library Advisory Board didn't voice any objections to the new security arrangement during their Aug. 17 meeting.

Board Vice President Kara Murphy told the Times-News that she'd like to get more information about the library's history of incidents — stats on how often 911 is called, average response time, etc. — and whether the armed guards will be trained in de-escalation.

"I do know there are security concerns there, so I am not necessarily against (having an armed guard) because safety of staff and patrons should be the No. 1 priority," Murphy said. "But I just want to make sure due diligence has been done and training is in place for de-escalation, sharing of resources, etc. since most of the issues at the library seem to be related to mental health."

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A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on X @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Blasco Library, nearby sites to get armed security guards