SECURITY AGENCIES PUSH FOR REGULATIONS (FIRST OF TWO PARTS)

For $10 and a record that shows no felony convictions, you can be a security guard in Cape Girardeau. If you want to guard property or maintain order at businesses in Jackson, Chaffee or Scott City, you don't even have to bother with the background check.

Total Security Regional Vice President Steve Gill says protecting lives and property isn't for amateurs, and he wants the Missouri Legislature to pass a law saying so.

Gill, whose office is in Cape Girardeau, thinks most of his clients believe his security guards are licensed and have extensive training.

The truth is, he said, Missouri has no law requiring a license for security guards.

"If hair dressers and dog groomers need a license, surely security guards need something to show they know what they're doing," he said.

Jerry Wolsey, who owns Wolsey Investigative Services in Chaffee, is working with Gill and Mike Knoke, security director for Union Electric in St. Louis, to pass a bill by Jan. 1, 1997, that requires the licensing of security guards with a minimum liability insurance and training.

Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd and the St. Louis Police Chiefs' Association endorse the bill.

Currently, Boyd said, there is no check on a guard's training or experience.

Knoke said that so far the legislators haven't acted on the bill.

Wolsey sees the aim of the bill as professionalizing the industry, adding that there are "so many fly-by-night companies" that "it gives the rest of the industry a bad name."

Gill recalls a fire started by a security guard at Universal Studios in California a few years ago cost $60 million.

"He did it to get attention," Gill said. "Those kinds of people could be working in the industry right now. We have to at least make sure we're hiring the right folks."

Gill thinks his bill would do this.

The bill the American Society of Industrial Security proposes would require agencies to have at least $1 million in liability insurance and have all guards complete a training course that would test judgment, common sense and the ability to communicate well with the public. It would also serve as an education on a security guard's understanding of liability while on the job.

"The days of the night watchman are over," Wolsey said. "The criminal of today is a lot smarter than the ones from 20 years ago. A guard I send to protect property in stores at the Sikeston Outlet Mall has to have some understanding of shoplifters and how they operate."

Three security agencies in Cape Girardeau have at least $1 million liability insurance: AA Security, Wolsey Investigative Services and Total Security. The yellow pages lists eight security guard agencies operating in the area.

Under the proposed licensing law, when background checks are made a DWI conviction or dishonorable discharge from the military could become factors in preventing a security guard from getting a license.

"A security guard who might have a drinking problem or have a history of violence would be a dangerous person to hire in this business," Wolsey said, adding that there is a lot of responsibility in protecting property.

"Our guards are the eyes and ears of the company we're hired to protect and their judgment is a key to how well they do their job," he said.

There would also be penalties or fines for security guards who try to pass themselves off as police officers.

Cape Girardeau has a city ordinance that requires all security agencies to subject their guards to a background check, which is done by the Highway Patrol in Jefferson City.

However, cities like Jackson, Scott City, Chaffee, Caruthersville and Bloomfield don't require a license.

Wolsey wants every city operate under the same law.

"When I send a security guard into another city, I want the police chief in that town to know who I've got there so they can work together," he said. "Right now there is no requirement to do that. That's a scary situation because if something happens, police won't know about it until it's too late."

Cape Girardeau is one of the few cities requireing background checks for security guards to get a license. Security guard applicants are fingerprinted at the police station and their papers are sent to Jefferson City to determine if they have been convicted of a felony.

Gill thinks the seven- to 10-day background check is too long.

He said that with the job force decreasing daily, an agency might chance hiring a security guard before the process is completed."

Total Security, which employs 400 security guards, operates in the five-state region of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. Kentucky doesn't license security guards.

"A few years ago we put an ad in the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis for security guards and got 25 to 30 responses," Gill said. Last year the ad only had two people respond.

"And, we were offering $6.50 to $7 an hour to start," he said.

"There are people we use that we probably shouldn't take a chance on," Gill said, "but there just aren't enough out there to pick from."

He said he is thankful "we've never really had a problem" but attributes that "to dumb luck instead of anything else."

The low pay scale has caused the labor force to shrink in the last few years.

Wolsey starts security guards at from $4.85 to $5.15 an hour.

"I think if we can make this industry more professional, we could get rid of some of the agencies that don't even belong in the business anyway and make the scale go up," Wolsey said. "I would like to be able to start my guards out at from $5.50 to $5.75 an hour."

Wolsey, who has 45 full-time security guards and 50 to 60 who work special events on a part-time basis, paid $31,000 last year in workers' compensation insurance and $12,000 in liability insurance.

A lot of agencies don't have enough liability insurance, Wolsey said, adding: "They're just hoping to get by, but it isn't right."

What the bill would do

Establish statewide licensing procedure, training curriculum, qualification and authority for security agencies.

Authorize the St. Louis and Kansas City police commissions to establish a 13-member Private Security Services Advisory Board.

Establish a law enforcement training academy approved by the state Department of Public Safety.

Establish standards regarding felony convictions, alcohol and chemical abuse, and military service record.

Require security agencies to have a minimum of $1 million liability insurance.

Establish a grandfathering procedure for current agencies and security guards.