A restaurant owner in Washington, D.C., is reportedly spending more than $4,000 a week on security due to rising crime in the city.
Bo Blair, who owns the taco stand “Surfside in Dupont Circle,” told Axious that he is spending more than $4,000 a week on guarded protection. He is expected to spend $208,000 by the end of the year.
“We have to pay for security to make employees feel safe. Once an incident happens, turnover is high, and we’re spending time and money on more training. It’s like a hamster wheel,” Blair said. “Think about it, private security at a taco stand. It’s like the Wild West.”
Surfside is not the only restaurant footing the bill for a lack of safety in the area. According to Axios, The Point restaurant has “increased its security spending to around $200,000 annually.”
Blair’s restaurant group, Georgetown Events, “has spent over $92,000 this year between their D.C. venues.”
“It’s not sustainable,” Blair said in a separate interview with Fox News. “Hopefully we can get through this crime crisis and we won’t have to do that in the future. The total amount of money we spent on security for this year at all the locations was over $450,000.”
This comes as crime has risen in the Democratic-controlled city. According to 2023 police statistics, there has been a 93 percent increase in carjackings, a 40 percent increase in violent crime, and a 34 percent increase in homicides.
Crime is so rampant in Washington that it has also affected President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, when the Secret Service opened fire on three individuals trying to break into Naomi’s SUV.
The incident occurred last month in Georgetown’s affluent neighborhood. Law officials reported that the Secret Service agents, who were tasked with protecting the first granddaughter, saw the assailants attempting to smash the window of the parked SUV.
According to a statement from the Secret Service, one of the agents opened fire, but no one was hurt. The Secret Service said that it sent out a regional notice to Metropolitan Police asking them to be on the lookout for the red automobile carrying the three passengers who were seen escaping.
