What is a personal protection officer (Level IV)?

Guarding a person is a separate license

Texas distinguishes between protecting property and protecting a person. A Level III commission covers the first: an armed officer at a gate, a lobby, a store or a site. Level IV covers the second: an armed officer assigned to a named individual, whose post is wherever that person is. The endorsement sits on top of a Level III commission, requires its own course and, like the commission, is issued by the Department of Public Safety and tied to the employing company.

What a Level IV assignment looks like

The post orders describe a person and a schedule rather than a building and a route: arrivals and departures, the venues for the day, who is expected and who is not, how close the officer stays and how the officer manages distance between the principal and anyone who should not be near. The work is mostly planning and positioning; the firearm is for the defense of life within Penal Code chapter 9, as on any armed post.

When a business client needs one

An executive who has received a specific threat. A contentious termination or a board meeting where a particular person needs to be accompanied in and out. A visiting principal at a corporate event. A witness, an executor or a family in the middle of a dispute. In each case the client describes the situation to dispatch rather than the license, and the answer follows.

Asking for the right thing

“An armed guard for the CEO” usually means Level IV; “a guard at the front door” usually means Level III. Price Protection staffs both, and the board and shareholder meetings page describes how a meeting with a named principal is covered. The licensing explained article compares all three levels. This is a summary of the credential, not legal advice.