ANTIOCH -- Taking a cue from other area businesses that have become the settings for violent crime, a local Denny's has hired night watchmen to ensure the safety of its customers in the wake of a weekend shooting. On Saturday a 33-year-old Pittsburg man was shot in the face about 3:30 a.m.
in the Denny's parking lot on Somersville Road. The man, who is in stable condition, has not been able to talk to police because a fragment of the bullet lodged in his vocal cords when it pierced his cheek. Investigators have been unsuccessful in tracking clues to the shooter's identification or motivation despite a crowd of witnesses, Lt.
Last weekend's shooting prompted the corporate-owned franchise to hire private security guards to patrol the 24-hour restaurant during late-night hours on the weekends, Denny's spokeswoman Debbie Atkins said. The diner is not the first private business in Antioch to do so. As local stores and restaurants continue to become arenas for crime, an increasing number of those same establishments are taking proactive efforts, and shouldering some of the public safety burden.
Generally, most businesses say they don't mind bearing the extra expense; it's just the cost of maintaining a thriving business. "There's only so much we can expect the police to do," explained Devi Lanphere, president of Antioch's Chamber of Commerce. "No one's happy when you have to do additional expenses.
" But, she added, "I think it's best for businesses to protect themselves when needed in a concentrated way." Indeed, after a teen was gunned down in early April in the parking lot of Regal Cinemas at Deer Valley Shopping Center, the theater's corporate owners agreed to pay the overtime costs for two off-duty Antioch officers to patrol outside and inside the theaters on Friday and Saturday nights in addition to private guards. Farther down on Lone Tree Way, the owner of Gas City hired armed guards to help curb chronic drug selling, robberies and disturbances that often had police responding to the gas station.
And Deer Valley Shopping Center, long a source of youth disorder, brawls and other issues, has manned round-the-clock security there and installed video cameras in its parking lot for more than a year. Antioch police Chief Jim Hyde says the supplemental security near the plaza appears to be paying off. Calls-for-service and arrests for that area have plummeted, he says.
"There have been dramatic changes -- it's like night and day," Hyde said. "We've only had two arrests out there, and they were two 13-year-old girls fighting about a boy ..
. We've had a lot of comments from citizens saying they're coming back to Deer Valley Plaza and the cinema." As far as many at the city are concerned, supplementing police efforts to provide safety for local consumers is good business, particularly if Antioch residents are spending their hard-earned dollars locally.
"They are making a profit off the community," Councilman Jim Davis said. "If they're willing to take their money and make a profit, they need to make sure customers are safe ..
. Banks do it every day, and they have for a century." Understanding the importance of ensuring public safety, the city itself pays for a night-time watchman to patrol such locations as the marina.
"I think it just augments the police department," Davis said. "It keeps more officers out on the streets, as opposed to walking around and monitoring a facility." With a shortage of beat officers and a reduction in the time and effort that officers can devote to problem areas, private businesses can expect to carry some of the policing burden.
And at a fraction the price. "A lot of communities are doing this," Hyde said. "The reality of today's world, local governments across California have limited funding for public safety.
" Although Delta Bowl has yet to have been the scene to violent crime, for the past 10 years security guards have patrolled the alley on weekend nights simply to create a secure atmosphere for their family patrons. "It gives them a sense of safety." Reach Cassandra Braun at 925-779-7174 or cbraun@cctimes.
com. ANTIOCH -- Taking a cue from other area businesses that have become the settings for violent crime, a local Denny's has hired night watchmen to ensure the safety of its customers in the wake of a weekend shooting.
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