RALEIGH - The city and McLaurin Parking Co. were supposed to have a new contract by Sunday, but concerns over safety in the downtown decks and lots has held up the deal.

Influenced by the August abduction of a woman from a Raleigh-owned deck managed by McLaurin, the city has placed the company on a month-to-month contract starting Sunday until parking safety details are worked out.

Although the three-year contract hasn't been signed, parking rates will still go up Sunday -- from $8 to $9 a day in city-owned parking decks. Most monthly parking rates are being raised $10.

Previous contracts have stated that security would be "coordinated between the city and the contractor."

In a draft of the new deal, the "basic security" section is longer. It states that "security will be provided by the city off-duty police officers who will regularly patrol all [city-]owned parking facilities during the hours of operation."

Still, that isn't enough, according to city officials and downtown boosters, who say more safety planning needs to be done.

"The downtown area is growing such that we are going to have to change our ways of doing things," said Capt. Mike Reynolds, who runs Raleigh's downtown police district.

The McLaurin contract won't be finalized until the Raleigh City Council approves a new security program for downtown, said Public Works Director Carl Dawson, whose department includes parking management.

Cynthia Moreland was last seen alive Aug. 22 when she dropped her husband off at WakeMed-Raleigh Campus about 6:30 a.m. and then headed to her job at the new Progress Energy tower downtown. Police think Moreland was abducted about 6:40 a.m. that day from the parking deck beside her workplace.

Antonio Devon Chance has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Moreland, who was found dead 10 days later in Harnett County.

While the hunt for Moreland was under way, Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker announced plans to evaluate safety in downtown parking decks.

Two weeks ago, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, a booster organization, unveiled its "safety patrol" program, which is intended to provide additional "eyes and ears" for police. Safety patrol personnel -- screened, hired and trained by the Alliance -- would wear tailored uniforms and carry walkie-talkies to stay in contact with each other and an off-duty police officer. Patrol calls for assistance would go to that police officer instead of through the 911 system, "so we're talking about having a two-minute response time anywhere downtown," said Nancy Hormann, the Alliance's executive director.

The safety patrol officers would be easy to identify, much like the Alliance's ambassadors who roam downtown wearing matching purple polo shirts. Six patrol members would monitor parking decks, while three more would work on the streets and sidewalks.

The Alliance wants the city to pay for the safety patrol members who would monitor the parking decks. The Raleigh City Council endorsed the safety patrol idea in late September but hasn't approved the added financing.

Before Moreland's abduction, downtown police officers had begun walking their beats. Officers also ride scooters and horses.

"Riding in a car is just not going to get it done downtown because it's so congested," said Reynolds, the police captain.

The department is also training officers to evaluate parking decks and make them more secure. Among the potential improvements: more surveillance cameras, controlled access and a police officer assigned to each deck, Reynolds said.

There are 4,514 spaces in the city's "off-street parking operations" contract with McLaurin, which includes five of Raleigh's public lots and five city-owned parking decks. The convention center deck where Moreland was abducted is the largest with 1,961 spaces.

City cameras and McLaurin security officers were monitoring the decks the day Moreland was snatched, Dawson said.

The city has 35 camera fixtures in the five main city decks, but some are dummy fixtures. Just 23 have cameras that are recording.

"We have the facilities and fixtures to accept cameras that might not have cameras in them," Dawson said. He declined to speculate on when the McLaurin contract would be signed or what it would say about security.

The current deal pays McLaurin about $55,000 per month. The parking fees go to the city.