Security guards with less training than manicurists wield considerable power
Security guards in South Carolina have less training than manicurists and animal control officers, yet they have about the same authority as police on private property.
Unarmed security guards in the state are required to undergo only four hours of training, while armed guards have to receive eight hours of training, the Post and Courier reports. Yet guards have the power to make arrests on private property.
The story cites an investigative report by the Center for Investigative Reporting and CNN that found 14 states don’t require security guards to be licensed, and nine don’t conduct a federal criminal background check. Among states that do regulate guards, South Carolina and Arkansas are tied for requiring the least number of hours in training, the Post and Courier says.
The Post and Courier obtained state records showing agents with the State Law Enforcement Division have fielded complaints about private security guards withholding drugs and other evidence from police, patrolling in areas where they don’t have jurisdiction, detaining people absent sufficient evidence, and brandishing guns without sufficient reason. In one case in the Greenville area, state investigators were told a security guard drew a gun and detained two women for a remark in a parking lot.
In two cases last year, South Carolina security guards have faced criminal charges. One guard was charged with murder for a parking lot shooting, and another was charged with manslaughter for shooting into a truck outside a nightclub, killing the driver.
Hat tip to the Marshall Project.
