CALSAGA

Daily Private Security News Clips - May 31, 2007

Starting today, we are adding a daily feature for the CALSAGA Blog.  We monitor worldwide news concerning the private security industry, and we will publish the most relevant or interesting such clips daily.  We will also include a short clip from each article to give you a flavor of the article.

Feel free to comment on the news.

Editorial: Problems Seen in Guard Corps - Carlisle (PA) Sentinel

This editorial, in reaction to the recent AP series on private security, calls for a federal mandate that all security officers in the U.S. be subjected to a federal criminal background check.

Security Guard Blows Stolen Money in Vegas - Victorville (CA) Daily Press

A former security guard at a bingo hall in Victorville stole from his client, blew money on gambling spree in La Vegas, police allege.

Security Guards to Frisk School Pupils for Knives - London (England) Times

Security guards will be able to search pupils for knives at the school gates without their consent under government guidance to be published today. Schools will also be able to use security arches and metal detector wands when they search pupils for violent weapons.

City (Lawrence, Kansas) Requires Security Guard Licenses - Lawrence Journal & News

In Lawrence, however, City Hall has required all security guards to be licensed since 1980 — subjecting guards to a full background check if they want to carry a firearm.

“The only time a full background check is done is if they’re requesting to carry a firearm,” said Lawrence police Sgt. Paul Fellers. “If they’re not going to carry a firearm, then it’s just a matter of processing the paperwork and the license.”

Employing Private Security Makes Residents Feel Safer - Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger

Residents in several Jackson neighborhoods are relying on private security firms to supplement law enforcement efforts because of a shortage of police officers.

Bob Williams, Wackenhut Corp.'s Jackson branch manager, said the company signed its first residential security client about 14 years ago. Now, the company patrols five neighborhoods in the metro area as well as several businesses. Three months ago, the company was hired by the North Pointe Homeowners Association.

Securitas International Security Service in Jackson also patrols about five neighborhoods. Though a Jackson branch was opened primarily to guard private businesses like banks and stores, interest in its residential security service is growing, manager Daryl Smith said.

AP Follow Up Story Highlights In-House Security

In a follow up to yesterday's AP story on private security, they highlight today the relatively lax regulations that govern in-house security.  CALSAGA Executive Director Jeff Flint is quoted.

Here's an excerpt:

They wear uniforms, guard some of the country's largest corporations and sometimes carry weapons. They're also largely invisible.

In an era of heightened concerns over security, thousands of in-house security guards work with almost no government oversight. Because they're company employees, not outside contractors, they don't fall under state boards that regulate the private security guard industry.

This lack of oversight is another kink in a spotty system for monitoring the country's private security guards identified by The Associated Press. A survey by AP bureaus in 50 states and the District of Columbia found a patchwork of state laws regulating the industry.

In addition, interviews with state officials and industry experts show that thousands of private, unarmed in-house guards - also known as proprietary guards - aren't regulated at all, with no mandated training or background checks.

...

California last year began requiring in-house guards to be registered along with contract guards. Pending legislation would extend the same training requirements to the in-house guards.

"The public has an expectation that people working in the security field had some sort of clearance, but for a large number of guards this just wasn't the case," said Jeff Flint, executive director of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates.

CALSAGA Responds to AP Report

In response to the AP report from the previous post, CALSAGA issued the following statement:

"California private security officers are the best-trained, most extensively background-checked, and most professional in the nation. The Associated Press story today highlighted the need for more states to be like California

"In California all contract private security officers are licensed by the state and must undergo a pre-employment background check against state criminal databases, federal criminal databases, and terrorist watch lists. Thanks to recent legislation that CALSAGA sponsored, California is the first state in the nation in which virtually all proprietary or in-house security officers must also receive these checks and be licensed by the state.

"All California contract security officers must receive at least 40 hours of initial training and at least 8 hours of annual continuing training. The initial 40 hours must include at least 4 hours of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Awareness training in a course designed by homeland security experts. CALSAGA is sponsoring legislation this year to extend this training requirement to proprietary security officers as well.

"Recently, we supported, and Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature approved, an increase in the budget of our regulatory agency by 19 additional staff to conduct more aggressive enforcement of these laws. We’re proud of the leadership our state provides the rest of the nation in professionalizing the security industry."

AP Says Private Security Weak Link in Homeland Security

The Associated Press has released a major nationwide story detailing private security laws and regulations, and calling private security a weak link in homeland security.  CALSAGA worked with the AP on this story, talking about the success story of California private security standards.  Unfortunately, they did not use much of the information we gave them.

Here is an excerpt of the story, clink the link to see the whole story.

WASHINGTON - Legions of ill-trained, low-paid private security guards are protecting tempting terrorist targets across the U.S.

Richard Bergendahl is one of them. He fights the war on terrorism in Los Angeles, protecting a high-rise office building for $19,000 a year. Down the block is an even taller skyscraper, identified by President Bush as a building chosen for a Sept. 11-style airplane attack.

Bergendahl, 55, says he often thinks: "Well, what am I doing here? These people are paying me minimum wage."

The security guard industry found itself involuntarily transformed after September 2001, from an army of "rent-a-cops" to protectors of the homeland. Yet, many security officers are paid little more than restaurant cooks or janitors.

And the industry is governed by a maze of conflicting state rules, according to a nationwide survey by The Associated Press. Wide chasms exist among states in requirements for training and background checks. Tens of thousands of guard applicants were found to have criminal backgrounds.

Welcome to the CALSAGA Blog

The CALSAGA Blog will be the site for the latest news, commentary, and information on the private security industry in California.