SerpApi.Org
Security officers at California schools, hospitals and private companies are only required to get eight hours of training and many said it is not enough.
More than 100 security officers rallied in Sacramento last month in favor of Senate Bill 1203, which would require 42 hours of training, including several hours focused on de-escalating confrontations. The bill passed the state Senate and is currently before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Alexander Nunez, a Los Angeles-based security officer, said the job involves a lot more than just watching for threats.
"We have extreme client interactions. Sometimes we have individuals who are having repeated mental health episodes and a lot of us have to deal with that on a daily basis, and that's not covered in our specific training," Nunez explained.
It also requires the state to set a minimum wage for security officers by July 1 of next year. A recent study from the University of California-Berkeley found security guards earn a median wage of about $20 an hour.
The California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates opposes the bill, saying it will impose $2 billion in costs on the industry and create bottlenecks in hiring. Nunez countered security officers deserve better training, wages and working conditions.
"We are expected to do an insurmountable amount of work with the most minimal amount of training and putting ourselves and others at risk. And that's not something that I can stand for," Nunez asserted.
The same study found California’s 186,000 security workers are almost 80% male, with a median age of 35, and about 41% Latino, 23% Black and 20% white.
David Huerta, president of the United Service Workers West local of the Service Employees International Union, the nation’s largest security officers union, said adding such support could help to reduce turnover.
"The reality is that within the first year, 50% of the workforce leaves the industry and numbers can be upwards of 80% in the second year."
The higher turnover rates align with the Berkeley study's findings.
