Lebanon Police Chief Jerry Harrison discussed Monday the department’s response to persistent loitering issue in Lebanon-Laclede County Library’s parking lot. The response: strictly enforce city ordinance within the parking lot.
The issue, ongoing for over a year, came up during Library Board of Trustees President Mark Campbell’s report at July 21’s library board meeting, where he highlighted a recent social media video that drew attention to the loitering.
Law enforcement also responded to a loitering call in the library’s parking lot the evening of that meeting.
Last year, the district put up anti-loitering signs at the suggestion of Harrison, whom Library Director Tina Chaney and former Trustee Sam Allen had met with afterwards, and the police have responded to the loitering. However, the issue has continued.
Recently, there was an online video showing a vehicle driving recklessly across the parking lot.
The library’s parking lot connects to the parking lot of the B&B Lebanon Ritz 8 Theatre, and the business has also had its issues with parking lot loitering.
According to Emily Hall, manager at the movie theater, the loitering has been happening for a long time despite being added to the LPD’s patrol rotation and has had a detrimental impact on business.
Back at the July 21 meeting, Campbell said that following the online video, he had reached out to a city councilor, who in turn reached out to Harrison, and the police were going to try to build up their response. He expressed understanding of the police department’s workload.
According to a quote Campbell later provided, the district was concerned over the parking lot loitering due to its impact on community member and employee safety.
“Loiters have damaged the library’s parking lot, which the District and The (Lebanon-Laclede Public) Library Foundation Board recently invested in for improvements,” the statement read. “We are disheartened by these irresponsible actions and are deeply concerned with the liability posed by this recklessness.”
The Record talked to Harrison Monday evening about the loitering.
He said the police department had recently added the issue to its park patrol, which grew from the New Day at Gasconade effort.
According to the police chief, officers have been told to include the parking lot in their park patrol, remove loiterers, and to enforce city ordinance in the lot.
Harrison gave a no-tolerance warning to those who would abuse taxpayer privileges and rights in the parking lot. That said, he encouraged the lawful enjoyment of the library and the benefits of the area’s businesses.
July 28, 2026 Addendum (typo fixed same day)
The Record did not write in detail about the specifics of the loitering issues in this story.
That said, the Record has written about a person being arrested with a gun in the library's parking lot last summer. That incident, where officers responded to a report of a man pointing a firearm at others, took place between 9-10 p.m. at night, according to the LPD press report.
