Guam Visitors Bureau stands up multi-agency special task force for Tumon safety and security

$28 million is how much the Guam Visitor Bureau (GVB) President Carl Gutierrez says it may cost to make Tumon safe. 

During a meeting, Gutierrez asked, “Can we figure out where we can find a big chunk of money to make these things work?”

To which Senator Will Parkinson said, “How much would you need?”

“I think we need about $28-million to make this work,” Gutierrez said. 

GVB stood up a multi-agency special task force today amid safety concerns after the tragic armed robbery in Tumon that took the life of a Korean tourist earlier this month. 

Guam Attorney General Doug Moylan called it the “worst case scenario.”

Moylan added, “This was the worst case scenario. It’s not that they’re taking things from your house, robbing you, or hurting you. They’re killing people in our community.”

Now, various government agency leaders are honing in on implementing security measures in the popular tourist district and discussing what that may look like. 

Utilities Oversight Chair Sen. Parkinson suggested more streetlights. 

“There’s a lot of sections there where you’re walking through long stretches of really dark road. I think in terms of public safety that requires less manpower to put up and leave it alone, I think lights is where we get the best bang for our buck,” Sen. Parkinson said. 

The Guam Police Department District 1 Commander Darren Caldwell suggested putting up warning signs to alert the public they’re being monitored on surveillance cameras. 

Caldwell said, “If we put up signage at the entrances of Tumon, I think that would be a greater deterrent.”

There was one agreement on crime deterrence, saying there’s an immediate need for more patrol presence. 

Gutierrez asked, “Can you give us an idea of what we can as a group do to really police this area?” 

GPD’s Paul Suba responded, “Presence.”

Park patrol is dedicating 10 reserve officers to patrol Tumon and Guam Fire Department (GFD) Acting Fire Chief Ed Chaco added that GFD has plans to build a rescue base at Matapang Beach. 

“Bringing our rescue units down to Matapang can place a paramedic unit down there. We also have drone capabilities. We can also have our rescue team patrol the beaches with ATV’s,” suggested Chaco. 

Meanwhile, Gutierrez said there’s currently only 6 Visitor Safety Officers (VSO) GVB can afford but they’ve secured other means to provide presence. 

Gutierrez added, “We at GVB already ordered– and hopefully it will come in the next couple of weeks– four black vehicles that look like police cars. We’re going to put people in there to drive around with signs on the door to just be visible. Drive up and down even if that’s all they do. We bought ATV’s, Mules, so they can continue to patrol the beach.”

Ultimately the task force's goal is to make Tumon safer, to restore confidence to both our visitors and all who call Guam home.