ANTI-TERRORISM TRAINING SET FOR SECURITY GUARDS GOAL IS TO RECRUIT 500,000 PRIVATE AGENTS.Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau With the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, approaching, the U.S. and state Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States offices have launched twin strategies to recruit more than 500,000 private counterterrorism coun·ter·ter·ror adj. Intended to prevent or counteract terrorism: counterterror measures; counterterror weapons. n. Action or strategy intended to counteract or suppress terrorism. agents in California, officials said Monday. Last month, state-licensed security guards, who vastly outnumber out·num·ber tr.v. out·num·bered, out·num·ber·ing, out·num·bers To exceed the number of; be more numerous than. outnumber Verb to exceed in number: law enforcement officers, began receiving anti-terrorism instruction. And later this month, when the Legislature reconvenes, lawmakers expect to quickly pass a bill requiring security guards employed by businesses to undergo the same types of training and extensive background checks as those working under contract through security firms. ``It's vital for the security industry in California and across the nation to have a heightened awareness of terrorist activity in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,'' said Charlene Zettel Charlene Zettel (née Gonzales) served in the California State Assembly from 1999 until 2003. She stepped down with one term to go before term limits would have claimed her in order to run for the State Senate but lost that election to Dennis Hollingsworth who claimed 54% of the , director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the private-security industry. The four-hour class, given by private-security schools, uses a DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and workbook work·book n. 1. A booklet containing problems and exercises that a student may work directly on the pages. 2. A manual containing operating instructions, as for an appliance or machine. 3. to teach guards what to look for and how to react in the event of an unfolding terrorist attack. Prospective security guards will receive the course as part of their required 40 hours of training to join the pool of about 200,000 officers who currently work under contract with security firms. Guards who are already licensed will receive the training as part of continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). that is required annually. At the same time, the state is moving toward licensing the estimated 300,000 guards who work directly for a variety of businesses, ranging from hotels to shopping malls. Not only will the officers receive counterterrorism training, but any who are felons will be weeded out through background record checks with the FBI, the state Justice Department and the state Department of Mental Health. The proposal, introduced every year since 2001, has been defeated amid opposition from the California Retailers Association and the Motion Picture Association of America. But this year, supporters and foes hammered ham·mered adj. 1. Shaped or worked with a metalworker's hammer and often showing the marks of these tools: a bowl of hammered brass. 2. Slang Drunk or intoxicated. Adj. out a deal that gives businesses extra time to implement the measure and exempts guards employed directly by movie studios. ``This bill is necessary to ensure standards for all private security personnel,'' said a statement by the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates, which sponsored the bill. Steve Geissinger, (916) 447-9302 sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com |
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