Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Tens of thousands of private security guards in California play a critical role in public safety, but poverty-level wages and poor training put both the guards and the public at risk, according to a new study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. The study , released yesterday (Thursday, April 23), found that nearly half of security guards statewide are low-wage workers—and that rises to more than two-thirds of security guards in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some 80% of them don't earn enough to meet basic living needs, and little more than half have health insurance provided by their employers or unions. "Security guards play a critical public safety role," said UC Berkeley economist Enrique Lopezlira, the lead author of the report. "But their wages, benefits and training have not kept pace with the responsibilities and risks of the job. And it's not just a job-quality issue—it's also a public safety issue.…