California Security News

Armored guard involved in shooting at Canyon Crest

RIVERSIDE - Shortly before 1:00 p.m., outside the Bank of America branch at the Canyon Crest Towne Centre, two armed men shot and robbed an armored car guard on Monday.

As a guard was exiting the truck, with a bag of cash, he was approached by two men with covered faces, and wearing dark clothing. The guard was shot in the stomach, as the men took the cash and left in a nearby get-a-way van. The van was later recovered nearby on El Cerrito Drive, but the men and the money have not been located.

In First, Private Guards Kill Somali Pirate

New York Times (03/24/10) Cowell, Alan

A pirate was shot and killed by private security guards on March 23 as he and several others tried to hijack a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship in the waters off the coast of Somalia. The incident began when pirates using high-speed skiffs controlled by a mother ship attacked the Panamanian-flagged vessel, the Almezaan, but were repulsed. When the pirates attacked the Almena a second time, they fired their guns at the ship, forcing the private security guards on board to return fire, hitting one of the pirates. A team from a Spanish frigate in the area, the Navarra, boarded the pirate boat and arrested six pirates. The pirate ships were then sunk. The death of the pirate, which is the first ever at the hands of private security guards, could ramp up the fight between pirates and shippers moving goods through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, who are increasingly using private security guards to fend off hijackers.

New California State Law Impacts Proprietary Security Officers

The following is stolen from the CA BSIS website:

California Code of Regulations 645

The proprietary training regulations were made operative on December 12, 2009 by California Office of Administrative Law.

The adopted regulations will require that all proprietary security officers complete an initial training curriculum of 16 hours with an additional 2 hours of annual continuing education each year thereafter.

According to Business and Professions Code section 7574.1, a proprietary private security officer is an unarmed individual who is employed exclusively by any one employer whose primary duty is to provide security services for his or her employer, whose services are not contracted to any other entity or person, and who is not exempt pursuant to Section 7582.2, and who meets both of the following criteria:

• Is required to wear a distinctive uniform clearly identifying the individual as a security officer

• Is likely to interact with the public while performing his or her duties.

The Proprietary Security Services Act, passed in 2006, required a person who met the definition of a proprietary private security officer to register with the Department of Consumer Affairs. In 2007 the Proprietary Security Services Act was amended to require a proprietary private security officer to complete training in security officer skills within a specified period of time. (See Business and Professions Code section 7574.5). Section 7574.5 shall apply on and after July 1, 2009, to any person hired as a proprietary private security officer on and after January 1, 2009. For a person hired as a proprietary private security officer before January 1, 2009, that section shall apply on and after January 1, 2010 (7574.7 Applicability of Section 7574.5). This amendment required the department to develop and approve a standard course and curriculum for the skills training; therefore "Skills Training Course for Proprietary Private Security Officers" was established. (See Business and Professions Code section 7574.22).

Security guard brutally beaten on middle-school grounds

By Lisa Fernandez

San Jose: A 59-year-old security officer from Campbell is in critical condition this morning following a brutal Saturday night attack at a San Jose middle school.

San Jose police officer Jose Garcia, a department spokesman, said the guard was severely beaten about 9:15 p.m., causing him to suffer life-threatening injuries. He was discovered on the basketball blacktop of Herman Intermediate School on Blossom Avenue. Police are not disclosing if weapons or fists were used in the beating. Nothing was taken from the guard, and the motive is unknown.

But Garcia said the guard, who works for Security Code 3 on North First Street in San Jose, called his co-workers Saturday night telling them that he saw three or four men acting suspiciously on school grounds. His co-workers called about five to 10 minutes later to see if the guard was OK, and when he didn't answer, they called 911.

Police arrived to find the guard bleeding on the ground.

The security company is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the attackers.

Walmart Security Officer Attacked Outside a Walmart

 

FRESNO - A contract security officer is recovering from moderate injuries, after being attacked outside a Walmart store.

The incident occurred late Sunday night at the Walmart on Kings Canyon and Peach.

According to Fresno Police, the 60-year-old security officer was approached in the parking lot by two males demanding he hand over his keys.

During the attack one of the men pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped him.

The officer resisted the assault and was able to hold onto his keys, and the suspects ultimately ran away.

The men were found a short time later hiding at a nearby apartment by police. The men matched the guards description of them, and were in possession of a handgun.

Police have identified the two suspects at 22-year-old Laray Jones and 28-year-old Sheku Portis. The duo now face attempted carjacking, felony assault and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

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ABC 7 News talks about unlicensed PI activity

We Draw the Lines - Get Involved

Every 10 years California must redraw the boundaries of its legislative and other political districts to reflect the new population data. How these boundaries are drawn affects how people are represented. In California, the process of redrawing the boundaries—redistricting—was a duty of state elected officials. But when voters passed Proposition 11 in the November 2008 election, responsibility for redrawing the legislative and Board of Equalization district lines transferred to the people in the form of a new Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Get involved: www.WeDrawtheLines.ca.gov

Biography of new BSIS Chief, Jeffrey Mason

BSIS posted the biography of Jeffrey Manson on its webpage:

Jeffrey Mason has been appointed Chief of the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS). Jeffrey came to BSIS from the private sector. Most recently, he was the Client Relations and Training Manager (Optimization) for the Lyle Company. Prior to that he held a number of positions in the private industry including Project Manager for InsWeb, Account Manager for WebEx, Owner/Operator of Jumpshots Coffee, and Manager of New Products Development (Customer Service and Sales) for AT&T Wireless. He was a Legislative Assistant in the Assembly from 1991-1997 and prior to that served as a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy.

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Robbers shoot and kill officer in Oakland

From ABC 7 in San Francisco-

Two Riverside men taking concert organizers to court for injuries

Los Angeles – A judge allows two Riverside County men who state poor security was to blame for injuries they suffered at the 2007 Ozzfest concert can take their case to trial.  McClelland and Holloway filed their lawsuit in January 2008, maintaining the security guards hired to work at the concert were "too young and under-trained to act as security guards at a heavy metal concert."

The men claim that they were attacked on separate occasions and went to security to make a report.  They were told "the situation was too dangerous and the security guard did not want security personnel to be injured," according to the plaintiffs.  

This will be an interesting case to follow and could sent precedence for security company liability.

Hemet passes city ordinance against security companies

Hemet –  A small city near Temecula passed a city ordinance requiring private security companies to have uniforms, insignias, shields and badges that are "clearly distinguishable" from those worn by Hemet police officers. 

The city council, who obviously doesn’t know this law already exists state-wide, passed the ordinance unanimously. The ordinance also prohibits private security guards from driving cars and motorcycles with markings that bear a striking resemblance to those driven by Hemet police.   The ordinance requires companies to avoid look-alike uniforms and choose colors and designs for insignias, shields and badges that don't resemble those of local, state or federal law enforcement officials.  Vehicle insignias, decals and colors must be approved by Hemet's police chief and include the word "private" in at least four-inch capital letters.  

Basically, because the city council thinks the citizens of Hemet are to ignorant to be able to tell the difference between a public officer and a private professional, the security companies in Hemet must find a uniform, badge, and decal that no state or federal agency use.  

Hemet city councilman Jim Foreman said he thinks the ordinance is needed after recently finding himself in a situation in which he almost mistook a private security guard for a Los Angeles policeman.  

Alleged shoplifter stabs security San Diego Security Officer

From the North County Times:

San Diego - An alleged shoplifter stabbed a security guard at a Clairemont Mesa grocery store, police said Saturday.

The security guard at the Vons at 5555 Balboa Ave. had handcuffed the shoplifter, but removed the handcuffs after about an hour. The man then stabbed him in the arm and ran away, said San Diego police Officer David Stafford.

The guard was taken to Sharp Grossmont Hospital.

The suspect was described as a 22-year-old Asian man, about 6-feet tall with a muscular build.