The city of West Hollywood signed contracts for unarmed community safety officers. (photo courtesy of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station)

The West Hollywood City Council unanimously approved an agreement with American Global Security, Inc. for Citywide Community Safety Officer services at the Sept. 22 City Council meeting.

CSOs are uniformed, unarmed and non-sworn personnel trained with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood Station to assist police officers in the field by directing dispatch to non-emergency, low-priority calls.

Non-emergency, low-priority calls include residential, commercial and vehicle burglaries where there is no suspect present, theft reports, missing property, vandalism, towing of stolen or recovered vehicles and non-injury-related traffic collisions.

Unlike police officers, CSOs do not have the authority to arrest people, engage in motor vehicle stops or issue traffic citations. Their job is to complete law enforcement reports on their own, without assistance from sworn officers. CSOs can obtain and upload video footage from crime scenes and are trained in fingerprinting and DNA collection for non-violent crimes. CSOs also commonly testify in court.

West Hollywood CSOs are often deployed to large community events as security or traffic control, such as the upcoming Halloween Carnaval and WeHo Pride.

The city also discussed its contracts with Allied Universal, a separate security company, that has contracted with the city since Oct. 2025. Allied Universal provides uniformed bicycle, kiosk, foot-patrol, fixed-post, special event and transit security services to West Hollywood.

The unarmed security ambassadors are expected to provide in-person responses to non-violent calls for service, conduct safety escorts for residents, businesses and visitors and offer helpful guidance to community members and visitors about city information, directions, parking and more.

West Hollywood City Councilman John Erickson shared concerns about the city’s contracts with Allied Universal. He said that the security company contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“I myself, in good conscience, cannot support a contract that further penalizes immigrants, whether they’re in West Hollywood or not,” Erickson said. “We fought for a city that fought for everyone. Something I think we all deeply agree on.”

Erickson said he still supports the unarmed security ambassador program but wants the city to contract with a different vendor. Because the item was not on the agenda and only part of a community safety update, the council did not vote on it.

The council directed staff to agendize the city’s contract with Allied Universal for further discussion at a future City Council meeting.

Councilwoman Chelsea Byers added that the city should review its procurement process to filter out companies that contract with DHS or ICE before signing contracts.