By Brittney Hopper
NewsChannel 3

Police say it's becoming a disturbing trend -- security guards being threatened and attacked by criminals.

Two security companies in the desert NewsChannel 3 spoke to both agree that security guards are being targeted more now than ever.

They say it's because of a lack of respect for what these men and woman do. What they're doing, they say, is trying to protect the community.

In May, two Bower Security guards were shot while patrolling a shopping center in Cathedral City.

On June 9th, a 66-year-old security guard was protecting a housing development when he was pulled from his car and beaten to death.

And just this past weekend, a security guard patrolling Time Waner Cable in Desert Hot Springs was carjacked

"I think it's on the rise these gang members or whoever it is that are doing these things," says David Beckwith of Maxwell Security.

Beckwith says just last week two men threatened him.

"It just escalated from there and up to the point of them threatening to murder me."

Richard Bower, president of Bower Security, says more crime is happening in the desert and that's one of the reasons why more security guards are getting attacked.

"The danger and risk that they encounter are really a direct proportion with the crimes in the area in general."

Bower says another problem is criminals don't take security guards seriously.

He says they think they can get away with what they're trying to do with a security guard.

But because more security guards are carrying guns and going to special classes, they're stopping the criminals which is causing the them to retaliate

Both security companies have mandatory classes that the security guards take to protect themselves and protect the community.