In August 2019, a consultant hired by the City of El Cerrito flagged several potential issues with building a new library at the Plaza site. Even then, concerns about safety and accessibility were part of the conversation. Fast forward to today, and fresh analysis of police incident data suggests those concerns may have been well-founded.
What Was Flagged in 2019
The consultant’s presentation outlined several risks and limitations with the Plaza location:
- Not as accessible to El Cerrito residents living in the northern part of the city
- Potential recurring tenant payments, adding long-term operational costs
- Many factors outside of the City’s control
- Homelessness and safety issues within the BART precinct
- Traffic congestion concerns
- Risk of the library becoming a regional destination rather than a neighborhood resource
- Reduced child focus due to transit-oriented development housing nearby
See the original presentation here.
What the Data Shows Now
Using El Cerrito Police Department incident reports from January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2025, a concerned citizen examined public safety patterns near key community landmarks. For consistency, only incidents with verifiable addresses were included, and the data was limited to specific types of incidents.
The number of incidents within 500 feet of each landmark is revealing:
- Proposed New Library Location (Plaza) – 1,547 incidents
- Current El Cerrito Library – 292 incidents
- El Cerrito High School – 265 incidents
- Del Norte BART – 214 incidents
- El Cerrito Community Center – 213 incidents
- Harding Elementary School – 211 incidents
- El Cerrito Plaza BART – 179 incidents
- Korematsu Middle School – 120 incidents
- Castro Park Pickleball Courts – 114 incidents
- Madera Elementary – 55 incidents
These counts reflect the number of reported and recorded incidents by the El Cerrito Police Department. While the data does not distinguish between severity levels, the sheer difference in volume raises serious questions about whether the Plaza site is the safest choice for a community library—especially one expected to serve families, children, and seniors.
Why This Matters Even More
El Cerrito is a small community—just 26,000 residents in about four square miles. When a single site accounts for more than five times the number of reported incidents as the current library location, it’s not something that can be brushed aside as just “part of city life.” The potential safety risks could have an outsized impact on the people who live, work, and go to school here.
Moreover, the most recent data available was in 2019, but crime hasn’t decreased in El Cerrito. If it had increased, it would have been on the front page of the monthly newsletter.
Moving Forward
The data adds weight to earlier warnings about safety and operational challenges at the Plaza site. Any decision about the library’s location should consider not just cost, but also accessibility, long-term operational impact, and the safety of its patrons. El Cerrito residents deserve a library that is not only functional and welcoming, but also located in a place where public safety risks are minimized.
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 