Conditions at the Santa Monica Main Library are Worse than Ever After Murder

March 9, 2023 - In an email to the Library Board, Santa Monica business and property owner John Alle included dozens of sobering photos and video clips illustrating the unsafe and unclean conditions at the main library and downtown generally.

"GOOD GUARD SECURITY is the new security guard firm the City hired to replace ALLIED UNIVERSAL SECURITY. Good Guard Security is doing a lousy job, worse than Allied Universal Security," Alle wrote.

Alle had attended the Library Board's meeting the previous month, in which he recalled growing up in Santa Monica and relying on the library through his school years and college. He said his son also used the library for schoolwork, "and my wife and I always felt comfortable knowing he was in a safe place." Alle does not believe the library is either safe or usable currently.

For proof, Alle provided photos showing what he described as "addicts, drug dealing, sex workers and people urinating and defecating against the entries to the Library."

The library, which should be a place for kids to shelter after school to study and utilize the computers and for seniors to use the air conditioning, now only allows patrons to stay two hours - it was only one hour a couple months ago. Presumably, this is to avoid letting homeless addicts use the library as a de facto shelter. The result is that the use for which the library was constructed is impossible.

"We have documented with numerous photos and videos dangerous conditions here, drug dealing, drug use, sex and pimps waiting in cars in the afternoons, at night and up until 8 in the morning - - week days and weekends," Alle told the Library Board.

Alle also related having to intervene between a Catholic nun who was attempting to meet and connect the many homeless near the library with their families. "Behind Sister Vianney was an addict holding a knife with is eyes on her purse," Alle said.

"All of this breaks my heart," Alle said.

He added, "We do not want a repeat of the murder that occurred less than a year ago on the same patio courtyard. And we want the fights to stop and for the parking to be safe for Library patrons and other visitors who use the parking to shop and dine across the street."

Alle suggests concerned citizens join the Santa Monica Coalition, a group that "addresses the humanitarian crisis, public safety concerns, the rising crime, and the current lack of responsiveness from the City of Santa Monica."

Links to all of the photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MgyNmQ62u56fCciq7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZhqJWHeDNDnZWXN47

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2VqHvgVpP6MyUdzT9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4ncwBUiziJd8dEb6

You can find Santa Monica Coaltion at https://thesantamonicacoalition.org/