Starting Aug. 14, unarmed security guards will patrol downtown Riverside to help deter crime and keep visitors and residents safe.

The “safety ambassadors,” guards from Los Angeles-based company Streetplus, will travel on foot, bike or Segway near bars and restaurants and in parking garages in the downtown core, mostly along University and Mission Inn Avenues and Main and Market streets.

At peak times, such as late-night weekend hours, staffing will be heavier and guards will work in pairs.

The Riverside Downtown Partnership now pays for one ambassador who works limited hours and mainly answers questions and patrols parking garages.

The city will pay the bulk of the roughly $390,000 a year contract, with the downtown partnership kicking in $50,000 a year. The Riverside City Council voted Tuesday, July 11, to hire Streetplus for two years with the option to extend the contract two additional years.

Nathan Freeman, a project manager in the city’s community and economic development department, said guards will wear recognizable polo shirts but will not look like law enforcement.

“Their goal is not to be the police department but to solve problems before it gets to that level,” he said.