Security Guards

Police in San Diego County were searching Sunday for a suspect who shot an on-duty security officer twice on a light-rail train platform and then stole the officer's gun and ammunition before fleeing. The officer from San Diego Metropolitan Transit System was patrolling the Grossmont Trolley Station on Fletcher Parkway about 10:15 p.m. Saturday when he was approached by the suspect, who was carrying a semiautomatic pistol, according to a statement released by the La Mesa Police Department.

In the 1980s and '90s, rising crime, dilapidated streets and a perception that police alone could not keep the streets of Los Angeles safe led a few neighborhoods to take matters into their own hands. In areas as varied as Old Pasadena, Westwood, Hollywood Boulevard and downtown L.A., business and property owners banded together to assess themselves and form umbrella organizations aimed at keeping their areas safe and clean.