The 2019 death of Angel Zapata Hernandez after his encounter with a code compliance officer and an armed security guard at a Metropolitan Transit System platform in San Diego led to a $5.5 million settlement with his family and to MTS making sweeping changes in its use-of-force policies. Like George Floyd in Minneapolis, Zapata Hernandez died after he was subdued by a security agent putting a knee on his neck.
What the tragedy should also spur is profound changes in how private security forces are trained. Assembly member Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, has introduced Assembly Bill 229, which would sharply increase the training requirements for security guards, emphasizing de-escalation tactics and limits on the use of potentially deadly force.
As Holden said, "They come in contact with the public more so than even some of the men and women who are sworn peace officers."
Yet state laws require as little as 32 hours of training to get a license to be a security guard and eight hours a year afterward, and don't require training on safely restraining people. That is unacceptable.
The measure passed the Assembly on a 73-0 vote on May 17 after facing no on-the-record opposition, so it may ultimately become law. But Holden should also consider introducing a bill to make public agencies that employ private security guards be far more transparent about incidents involving use of force. It is outrageous that MTS sat on details of the Zapata Hernandez death for more than a year. When a tragedy happens, public transparency is essential.