That former Asst. D. A. was spot-on. I don't know what the protocol for hiring security guards is today, but I do know that it was pathetically lax a decade ago. A popular shopping mall in my area has reportedly had to let several members of the security staff go in recent years for alleged misconduct, including harassing female patrons.

In the annals of crime, serial killers Dennis Rader (BTK), Steven Hobbs, Kenneth Bianchi (Hillside Strangler), and Nathan Tubbs (The Campus Killer) all worked at one time or another as security guards. This fact alone should make the general public wary of anyone who flashes a badge and says, "Come with me."

My daughter has known from an early age that if she is approached by someone identifying themselves as a security guard and told to go to a second location, she is to stay put and call first me and then the police. My motto is, and always has been, that it's better to make a scene and live to see another day, than to go along and face the unknown.

It's terrible what happened to the lady in the residential care home. The thought that the person responsible for her murder is out there walking around without a care in the world is sickening. Anyone who can take the life of a helpless woman who had done nothing more than offer a bit of friendly advice to her caregiver is a ticking time bomb that could explode again at any time. That he's employed as a security guard is alarming. Hopefully, the watchdogs will keep him in check.

Thank you so much for helping get the word out that not everyone who wears a badge is on the side of good. While the vast majority of security personnel are legitimate, one can't be too careful.