Private guards a weak link in (US) security

[babylonsister]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070529/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/homeland_insecurity;_ylt=AiWZ8doEF3D54l1f6EYsxpjMWM0F

Private guards a weak link in security

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 41 minutes ago

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.

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