Multnomah County officials plan to make additional safety upgrades at Portland’s troubled Central Library, but remain undecided about one major security measure.
Director of Libraries Annie Lewis told the Board of Commissioners Tuesday that the flagship downtown branch isn’t ready to install metal detectors. She raised concerns about the cost, lines at the door and opposition from library staff.
“We expect that weapons detection will introduce some operational challenges,” Lewis said.
Portland police first proposed the idea of metal detectors in July, after a fatal shooting near the building spurred renewed concerns over safety. Both the suspect and the victim were seen inside the library moments before the deadly exchange, according to court records and police. A stabbing across the street in August put even more pressure on county officials to respond.
In the wake of the shooting, officials from the county and city initially butted heads over who should shoulder the blame and whose responsibility it was to improve security around the library. Business interests framed it as a county failure.
The library has since added more security officers, increased patrols around the perimeter and taken other measures like weakening the Wi-Fi signal after hours to discourage people from loitering. Nonprofit 4D Recovery, which helps people struggling with drug addiction, is also conducting outreach around the blocks near the library.
Lewis said Tuesday that the library will implement more change to help curb drug use and potential violent situations. Officials are working to add vapor sensors in the bathrooms to detect smoke from illegal drugs, like fentanyl, and will temporarily remove most of the benches outside the building for restoration. She also said the library is hiring a security manager and reviewing its rules and guidelines for when someone is banned from the library.
The downtown branch is the county’s most visited, and also its most challenged, accounting for a disproportionate share of rules violations tracked by the county, data shows. From January to July, there were 2,594 rule violations across the county’s 20 library locations, which includes library buildings and the operations center. Nearly 78% – or 2,021 – occurred at the Central Library.
But Lewis and library staff are not yet sold that metal detectors would help the situation.
“I think, from my perspective, since weapons detection systems would have a significant impact on our operations, on our patrons and on our budget, it really requires thorough, thorough analysis,” Lewis said.
A vast majority of library employees — 76% — said in a survey that they are opposed to adding walk-in metal detectors, according to a report from the library. Library staff have argued that it would create an unwelcoming environment for the city’s most vulnerable people, who rely on free library services, like the internet and connections to other resources.
Lewis said that cost estimates from weapons detection company Evolv show the county would need to pay nearly $44,000 a year to lease metal detectors, plus an installation cost of $10,500. The new system would also require more security officers to run it, bumping total security costs to up to $1 million a year, Lewis said.
The benefits of doing so are unclear, Lewis told the board. She said that research shows that metal detectors can be a deterrent to people carrying weapons, but that the technology can be difficult to use correctly and could have unintended consequences, like people storing weapons outside the building in bushes or other areas where anyone can access them. Visitors may also need to wait in line to get into the building on particularly busy days.
Screening devices would also create a barrier for homeless individuals, who often bring their belongings into the library. The county is weighing options to add storage units for people entering the building, even if metal detectors are not installed.
Installing metal detectors would require a vote from the board and new policies to comply with state law on authorized administrative searches. The library would not confiscate weapons and would instead call 911 to handle the situation, Lewis said.
Chief Operating Officer Christopher Neal said the county will take another month to iron out the finer details of how metal detectors might be implemented if the board were to approve them.
Most of the board members have not signaled whether they’d support the security screenings, but Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon said Tuesday that he is against adding metal detectors. He said the county should instead focus on connecting people to services.
“Are we solving the right problem?” Jones-Dixon said.