Parents and teachers at Fairmont Elementary School are upset that a group of armed men hired by PG&E to stand guard outside the El Cerrito campus work for the same private military service that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
At first, the school community thought the men, who were standing around their vehicles, some unmarked and one with a Georgia license plate, were ICE agents, but they later found out they were private security guards contracted by PG&E to work on nearby telephone poles. But that did little to assuage concerns, several community members told Richmondside.
They said they don’t want anyone carrying guns so close to an elementary school campus. And they’re concerned that the security company is Triple Canopy — a private military company that profited off of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by providing training, intelligence and armed protection to the U.S. Army.
“I don’t want somebody who’s armed on my street,” said parent Christine R., who asked that her full name not be published for safety reasons. “If an altercation breaks out, that shouldn’t be anywhere near where my kids play or go to school.
“I also don’t know if these same guards could come back next week, but this time as a contracted security guard for ICE,” Christine R. continued. “ I don’t want money I pay for my utilities to be supporting a company that is particularly violating our community members’ civil rights, and it’s violating the Constitution.”
Triple Canopy is an American private security and military company owned by Constellis. Constellis was formed in 2014 by merging several high-profile security firms, including Academi (formerly Blackwater). The company is a major federal contractor and has provided support in immigration-related operations, securing facilities and providing protective security officers.
On Feb. 5, two security guards from Triple Canopy were seen standing outside of a black Dodge sedan in front of the elementary school on Stockton Avenue. Both security guards wore visible guns and what appeared to be bulletproof vests and other tactical gear. No PG&E workers were seen with them, they didn’t display any identification to suggest they were working for PG&E and they weren’t seen carrying any tools, parents told Richmondside. Photos of the guards did show that their vehicles were marked as “private security” and had Triple Canopy’s logo displayed.
They appeared at 9:50 a.m. at the corner of Lexington and Stockton Avenues, near the school and left before 12:30 p.m. They then returned around school dismissal time, when they were confronted by Principal Heather Best.
“(I was) making sure they understood that their presence is not welcome in our community and that whether they are currently working for PGE they are also complicit in the ICE-related work their company also performs,” Best wrote in an email to several elected officials in Richmond and El Cerrito that was shared with Richmondside. “The man who reports to be a PG&E worker then came to my school office, requesting to meet with the principal. I can only assume that he intended to tell on me — to me, of course not realizing who I am. After I introduced myself he told me that I had to get used to it because they would be back.”
On Friday, there were two armed guards in front of the school accompanied by a PG&E worker — this time wearing neon PG&E vests and hats. They arrived in a black Ford truck with a Georgia license plate, a black sedan displaying the Triple Canopy logo. The three men left after 45 minutes. They then were seen in front of the school at about 11 a.m. and left by 1:15 p.m., according to staff at Fairmont Elementary.
In the same email to elected officials, Best said she spent more than two hours standing on the sidewalk next to the security guards to supervise them.
“The men with guns leaned on the fence to my (transitional kindergarten) yard casually, while my most vulnerable students with special needs had their recess in the yard below them,” Best wrote in the email. “As the man who reports as a PGE worker “worked” by removing reflective strips from the base of telephone poles and applying stickers (badly) in their place.”
Best emailed elected officials in Richmond and El Cerrito to raise awareness.
“I am drawing your attention to this situation as I worry deeply about the message it sends to allow this to continue,” she wrote. “Whatever the current intent of these armed men, normalizing their presence in our community will only serve to make their jobs easier when they return, in the same cars, under their other duties as contracted ICE enforcers.”
The guards haven’t been seen near the campus this week, according to parents and staff.
Richmond city council member says PG&E should have been more thoughtful
Richmond City Council member Claudia Jimenez, who over the past year has led a number of efforts to strengthen Richmond’s sanctuary city laws, said she was grateful that the information was shared with her. While Fairmont is in El Cerrito, the majority of its student population lives in the Richmond Annex.
Jimenez told Richmondside that she shares the community’s concerns, noting that PG&E should’ve approached the situation with more consideration. She said at the very least PG&E should’ve provided the guards with identification and also informed the community that work was going to be taking place.
“Unfortunately, PG&E seems like it’s not being thoughtful and responsible of the moment that our community, and particularly our immigrant community, is facing and they should be more responsible,” Jimenez said, promising to share the concerns with PG&E employees who work closely with the city. “As a city, we are doing everything that we can and beyond to protect our communities in these hard times.”
Jimenez said while the city of Richmond is writing an ordinance that would establish “ICE-free zones” on city-owned property and has policies in place that prevent the city from working with ICE, PG&E’s contract with Triple Canopy is outside of the city’s jurisdiction and does not violate any local policies.
However, she intends to invite PG&E to a city council meeting to explain their policies and push for better practices.
“I will communicate with PG&E that this is something that is causing a lot of stress, and that they should be more careful,” Jimenez said. “But I also think that the community (should) also start advocating and sending letters saying they are consumers of PG&E, and PG&E should listen to every resident.”
WCCUSD district officials told Richmondside Wednesday that it monitors and evaluates reports of immigration enforcement activities (all of which have been found to be false) and encourages anyone with concerns to review the district’s procedures for what to do in the event of an ICE operation.
Staff at Fairmont Elementary told Richmondside that on Friday an associate superintendent visited the school to support the community and the district sent its own security guard. However, the armed guards had left by the time the district’s security person arrived.
Armed guards often assigned to protect PG&E workers
Such armed guards have also been spotted in other locations in Richmond and El Cerrito, including Carlson Boulevard, Columbia Avenue, Richmond Street and Moeser Lane.
A resident and retired educator, who spoke to Richmondside on the condition of anonymity because of immigration fears, said he saw two PG&E trucks and two armed security guards walk around his neighborhood last week at the corner of San Mateo Avenue and Columbia Avenue in the Richmond Annex.
“It just struck me as obviously peculiar and irregular,” the resident told Richmondside. “(Two PG&E workers) just got out of their trucks and took out their phone cameras, and just stood around and took pictures … and two armed security guards followed them.”
The resident said the PG&E workers didn’t work on the lines and he didn’t see any ladders or tools.
“It was just like a photo-taking expedition, basically for about five minutes on that corner,” he continued, noting they only took pictures of the three telephone poles on the intersection.
PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian told Richmondside that the company does hire contract security guards to protect PG&E workers. There have been several incidents of workers being robbed in and around the Bay Area, according to multiple media sources. In 2022, a PG&E worker was stabbed in the neck in South San Francisco and in 2023 a PG&E worker was stabbed in Ione, a city east of Stockton. In west Contra Costa County there has been a spike in copper wire thefts targeting the equipment of PG&E and other utilities.
“PG&E utility crews are sometimes accompanied by private security personnel to ensure that they can perform their work safely and without interruption,” Sarkissian said via email. “We can confirm that the individuals present were private security crews contracted specifically to support safe and secure completion of our work.”
Sarkissian did not provide any additional information about the contract cost, what work those guards and PG&E was doing in front of Fairmont Elementary or whether it is considering changing its policies to avoid scaring community members.
“If an individual representing themselves as a PG&E employee asks to access your property, request they present their ID badge. If it still doesn’t feel right, call 1-800-743-5000,” Sarkissian said. “PG&E will confirm the appointment and/or the presence of PG&E in the community. If you still feel threatened, call 9-1-1.” They provided a website for scam information as well.
Suzanne Balmaceda, a traveling teacher who works for WCCUSD supporting visually impaired students, said she understands why PG&E workers need protection, but the armed guards in front of Fairmont Elementary are “overkill.”
“Maybe it’s worth having a security guard, like one unarmed security guard there, preventing someone from stealing the truck if there is a PG&E worker on the pole or something,” Balmaceda said. “But you don’t need armed guards, especially by an elementary school.”
She also said PG&E should work with a company that does not contract with ICE because she is concerned about data sharing.
“I don’t want (these security guards) to be sharing information about the comings and goings of students or parents in the community at school to ICE and I don’t want them to be scoping out the neighborhoods for people that they would go after,” Balmaceda told Richmondside.
Excellent excellent story
Thank you for doing such a thorough job on a complicated and important issue. And bravo to the school principal for standing up for her community
I get it but maybe if the Bay Area wasn’t such a crime ridden place they wouldn’t need armed security, how about let’s stop thinking everything is racist and let law enforcement arrest criminals. This is all your doings for being emotional idiots.
Are you talking about massive wage theft by employers and the criminal activity of pg&e? Because that is the crime. The community needs to protect ourselves from capitalist criminals and murderous gangs like law enforcement. You shouldn’t have allowed your ignorance to lead you to write such a sycophant comment.
You should educate yourself on the cost of crime in the bay area. The cost of the crime ultimately is paid by the rate payers. Everyday lines are cut down and vandalized by vagrants. Power tools are targeted by thieves . One pge truck can have roughly $30000 of power tools on it at any given time. The workers have been held at gunpoint multiple times. Please be more considerate of the workers who just want to provide for their families. They just want to do their job safely and go home to their families at the end of the day.
Oops — Big language error. It is never “should of”. It may sound like that, but it is written “should’ve”. It’s a contraction for “should have”. This is elementary school level. Please be more careful. It’s in a subhead in this story:
“Richmond city council member says PG&E should of been more thoughtful”
Otherwise, well-written and it’s a great scoop on the major commercial newspapers!
Duly noted, J.T. Thank you for catching that.
These security guards are not concerned with anyone except keeping the pg&e workers safe. They aren’t looking at your kids or you. Do better.
While I understand the concerns raised, it is important to recognize that these guards are focused on protecting PG&E. The reporting lacks critical context regarding why armed security is necessary, notably omitting the history of violence against them, including the 2022 and 2023 stabbings and recent ARMED robberies. Presenting such a one-sided perspective is, unfortunately, representative of broader issues within current US media reporting.
Thanks for your comment. Please note: The story did mention the violence against PG&E workers.
If law enforcement pulled over a driver in front of the school would the community ask or expect the police to pull down the street before conducting their investigation or lock their firearms in the vehicle before they proceed with their stop? I googled the Triple Canopy’s parent company Constellis and it stated that Constellis was using skip tracing software to assist ICE in locating people and sharing it with ICE. The article never states that ICE or DHS is hiring triple canopy agents to round up people in the community. It seems that Principal Best and others at the school was fully aware of this fact but chose to be negligent in their duties by inciting rage and fear to the parents and the community. The time to be proactive and protective of their students and community for principal Best and others should have been in 2024 when they went to ballot box.