California is once again preparing to rock the boat, this time by imposing new training and wage requirements on the private-security industry. California overregulates nearly everything it touches, and that remains one of the defining features of the Boškovic Republic. The timing could hardly be worse.California is approaching the 2028 Olympic Games, an international event that will create security demands far beyond the ordinary needs of office buildings, stores, hotels, parking facilities, warehouses, and residential communities. Los Angeles will need thousands of additional security guards. Instead, the Legislature appears determined to make employing them substantially more expensive. Security guards have traditionally been minimally trained and minimally paid. That is not necessarily admirable, but it is reality. More important, security work is not a one-size-fits-all occupation. Every property has different risks, responsibilities, and expectations. In most cases, prop...

Manhattan Beach, CA —I met with my favorite Media Guru, Michael Rosenblum  yesterday.     He’s a long time TV producer and founder of TheVJ.com .   Michael is giving 30 rookie Video Journalists their hands on training to cover news for Spectrum’s SOCAL-1 , 24/7 news startup.     I suspect there’s no doubt that this offering will shake up the L.A. news market in a big way.    Gone at SOCAL News1 are the news crews and the obscenely expensive TV gear.  The news stories will either work or fail through the individual efforts of these hand picked youngsters.  These lucky VJ’s will be seen by all manner of agents, producers and TV network decision makers. Those talented ones, that shine will have unlimited opportunities.   Spectrum has already done the same thing in NYC and this concept is spreading over the nation. Traditional TV new is in a death spiral over their insane fear of making the slightest ...

Melyda "Mel" Corado Los Angeles, CA --It all began as a dispute between a 28 year-old drug addicted freeloader, Gene Adkins and his 79 year-old grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Madison in South L.A.  Adkins allegedly shot his grandmother seven times with a handgun.  In the process a 20 year-old woman that was Adkin’s yet to be identified girlfriend suffered a bullet graze wound to her head. Adkins allegedly then stole his grandmother’s car and kidnapped the girlfriend.   Suspect Gene Adkins being loaded into an ambulance In Hollywood, the police caught up with the stolen car that was equipped with a GPS tracking device and the chase began.   Adkins soon crashed his car near the entrance of the Silver Lake Trader Joe’s and was exchanging gunfire  with police as he sought refuge inside of the crowded supermarket.  Apparently Adkins was wounded in his left arm by police.  That’s when the store manager, Melyda “Mel” Corado was also stru...

Van Nuys, CA —Despite some of the worst gun laws in the nation people in L.A. still have access to firearms for self-defense. There is a conveniently located indoor range that is frequented by some surprising Hollywood celebrities that received their training and maintain their shooting skills at THE TARGET RANGE . If you own a firearm for personal protection, that’s only a small part of your needs. Training in efficient use of the weapon and the laws and liability of the justifiable use of deadly force is a must. There are two types of training you can receive, a civilian course or the more intense Security Firearms Program. The latter is the course mandated for security personal such as armored car drivers and bodyguards. I have always recommended the Security Firearms course for civilians too. The security Firearms course deals with safety, marksmanship, weapons-retention along with a good dose of law surrounding use of force with follow up written testing. This is really not a ...