By Joseph Cranney, nola.com
August 7, 2023
The private security guard who shot a man in the back outside of the New Orleans library’s main branch Saturday was allowed to receive her license last year after just eight hours of firearm training and two arrests on battery charges in 2021.
Kia Simmons, 23, had worked for Metairie-based Pinnacle Security for fewer than three months. She passed a state background check in May, which only would have disqualified her if she had been convicted of a felony or stripped of her gun rights. Simmons was convicted this year of simple battery, a misdemeanor.
Simmons opened fire on 26-year-old Henry Mark outside the library on Saturday evening, firing 11 bullets and striking him seven times, leaving him in critical condition at Tulane Hospital. Bystander video captured Mark fleeing from Simmons, and police said most of the shots struck him in the back.
Simmons told police that Mark had confronted one of her co-workers and threw several objects at her, including a brick that struck her arm.
Simmons is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder, battery, illegal use of weapons and two counts of criminal damage to property. Video of much of the incident was published by WWL-TV.
Carl Saizan Jr., executive secretary of the state’s troubled Board of Private Security Examiners, which licenses security guards, said the case highlights significant holes in Louisiana’s laws regulating the industry. Those rules haven’t been updated in decades.
“We’re going through a complete statute rewrite … to bring them up to 21st century standards,” Saizan said. He’s the third person to hold his post in the last three years, after his predecessors both left the job amid scandals.
Saizan, a former major with the Louisiana State Police, said the state’s minimum of eight hours of firearms training – the equivalent of one day – is “absolutely” too low and far less than the 80 hours that law enforcement cadets receive in police academies.
Louisiana has more than 200 private security companies and around 13,500 licensed security officers, though that number jumps to closer to 20,000 during football season, Saizan said. Many officers are unarmed, and some make as little as $12 an hour, Saizan said.
The issue is especially relevant in New Orleans, where businesses and residents often turn to private security firms because of high crime rates and an understaffed Police Department.
A post-pandemic spike in violent crime, along with high-profile incidents like the April shooting at Mandina’s restaurant, have only heightened the concerns, said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
“You never know when somebody is going to target someone – who can predict that?” Goyeneche said. “I don’t fault the city for having security. What I find problematic is the extremely low standards for security in the state of Louisiana … You’re setting up the potential for disasters like this happening in the future.”
In Simmons’ case, her lawyer said in a bond hearing Sunday that she had worked as a security guard for four years, though the state’s records indicate she first filed for a license in late 2021. Saizan said Simmons could have been employed by a company with in-house security. The state only requires licenses for people working for private security firms.
In February 2021, Simmons was booked on counts of simple battery and domestic abuse battery; those charges were later refused.
In June 2021, she was booked on charges of simple battery and cruelty to a juvenile.
She received her security license in July 2022.
In April of this year, she pleaded guilty to the battery charge and was sentenced to time served. The conviction would not have prevented her from getting a licen
It’s unclear how long the city has contracted for private security at the library. A spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell didn’t return messages seeking comment. A spokesperson for Council President JP Morrell also didn’t respond.
Chad Perez, Pinnacle’s chief executive officer, said he followed the law in hiring Simmons, noting that she cleared her background check. Perez fired Simmons after Saturday’s events and is requiring his employees to get refresher courses on use-of-force training, he said.
City Council member Oliver Thomas, who chairs the criminal justice committee, declined to address whether the city ought to continue paying for private security at the library. But, he said it’s unrealistic to expect NOPD to maintain the posts themselves.
“People are trying to get police officers around the clock in their neighborhoods,” Thomas said. “We haven’t figured that out yet.”