Alonzo Smith, 27, who died Nov. 1 after being found handcuffed by special police officers in an apartment building in Southeast Washington. (Family photo)

The District’s mayor and police chief on Thursday proposed toughening hiring standards and training for the thousands of private security guards working in Washington, many of whom carry weapons and have limited arrest powers.

For the first time, guards would be required to get training to deal with active shooters as well as learn how to de-escalate dangerous situations and interact with people with mental-health issues.

The guards would also study different cultures, human rights and community policing.

The proposal also would double the mandated hours of training to confront terrorists. And guards who are authorized to carry weapons would need more instruction in firearm proficiency.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said the proposed changes — which would require the approval of the D.C. Council — were drawn up after two men died last year in confrontations with armed security guards, known as “special police” officers. Both deaths were ruled homicides, and two guards from one of the incidents face charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Authorities released body camera video of officers giving chest compressions to a handcuffed man who had been detained by security guards and later died. It is the first time D.C. has released police body camera video. (DC Metropolitan Police Department)

Bowser said that for the most part, licensed guards in the city “meet the requirements that are on the books now, and we believe those requirements need to be strengthened.”

[Read the District’s proposed changes to licensing private security guards]

Under the proposal, guards who carry firearms would get the same hours as D.C. officers in gun use and would have to train for eight hours twice a year to requalify, double the eight hours a year that is required now. Training for use of force would also double — from 16 to 32 hours — and guards would be schooled in certain holds, such as neck restraints.

There are 8,860 licensed security guards and 7,720 special police officers with active licenses in the District.

All of the special police officers have arrest powers, typically limited to a designated geographic area, and 4,523 of them carry firearms.

Private guards protect local and federal government buildings, schools, libraries and apartment complexes. They are trained through private companies but must meet the certification requirements of the D.C. police and the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Julie Karant, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents 4,000 security officers in the District and Baltimore, said her organization applauds “the mayor’s efforts to improve training and standards in the securing industry.”

[Death of man, subdued by custody of security guards, ruled homicide]

Highlighting the fact that special police officers can find themselves in volatile situations, city leaders announced the proposals outside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where seven years ago Friday, Stephen T. Johns, a special police officer, was killed during an attack by an avowed white supremacist.

The attacker was shot by two other guards and died awaiting trial.

Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier praised the work of many special police officers, noting that in 2012, a guard at the Family Research Council in Northwest helped subdue a gunman who tried to get inside the lobbying group’s headquarters. The guard was shot during the altercation.

“The value of our security officers should not go unnoticed,” Lanier said.

[Guards at Washington Hospital Center indicted on manslaughter charge]

Other encounters have raised concerns. Last month, two guards who had worked for MedStar Washington Hospital Center were indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 74-year-old James McBride, a patient who on Sept. 29 had left without being discharged and was being taken back to the hospital. Police said he suffered a broken vertebra during an altercation with the guards.

On Nov. 1, Alonzo Smith, 27, died after being restrained by a special police officer in an apartment complex in Southeast. Police have said that guards subdued Smith while investigating complaints of a man running in the halls. The case is under investigation.

Companies would have two years to implement the standards.