Lifeguards to Learn Self-Defense Skills

Los Angeles County lifeguards, who until now have relied on their “good guy” image to get through potentially violent confrontations, will soon gain an additional weapon: self-defense training.

In the wake of a recent incident in which a panhandler stabbed a lifeguard, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday ordered self-defense training for lifeguards and called on police to beef up patrols at beaches that serve as havens for transients. The county’s chief lifeguard, Howard Lee, said the lifeguards may begin carrying handcuffs and batons.

A Santa Monica beach lifeguard was was stabbed in the abdomen with a corkscrew Sept. 26 by a transient who demanded money. The lifeguard, a 15-year veteran, was treated for a four-inch cut, and the assailant has not been caught.