He says people are not feeling safe in their neighborhoods anymore. In response to an alarming rise in crime and violence, Senator Joe San Agustin is proposing to hire private security personnel to help patrol village streets.

Senator San Agustin’s plan is similar to the Guam Visitors Bureau's successful visitor safety officer program. He says the Village Safety Officer program is designed to increase patrols, especially at night, to make villages safer and serve as a deterrent to violent crimes such as the recent attacks at the Dededo Skate Park.

"You know, we only have so many park rangers also GPD officers, but if you’ve got a village safety officer on patrol, they could visit every park and just check up on that and make sure people are just not loitering around doing drugs. Get 'em outta there or detain," said the senator. "Because remember they don’t have arresting powers but they do have the ability to detain people so the police department can show up and effectuate and place 'em under arrest."

He estimates the cost to hire as many as 30 VSOs would be from $50,000-$100,000 a month, and he’s proposing the governor use her American Rescue Plan money to pay for it.

"And the reason why is because its all related to the pandemic," he added. "That’s why we’re covering the shortfall with ARP money for the police department. Well this is a good basis to use ARP money to cover the shortfall in law enforcement or security for our people of Guam."

Meanwhile, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero is proposing to hire back retired police personnel to augment the force. San Agustin said they can do both, telling KUAM News, "If they say they estimate about thirty, okay what if they only got ten? Well then use the other part of the money to keep the VSO. Remember I’m only looking at the VSO as an interim.

"Interim until the police department reach their magic number of 300 or 400, but until they reach that number you keep the island as safe as possible."