Training and Licensing Support for Officers

The three Texas levels

Texas regulates private security under Occupations Code chapter 1702, administered by the Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Program. Officers are licensed at three levels, and each is a prerequisite for the next.

Level	Course	What it allows
Level II non-commissioned	30 hours	Unarmed security work
Level III commissioned	45 hours, including firearms proficiency	Carrying a firearm on duty
Level IV personal protection officer	Level III plus a further course	Providing personal protection

Each level requires a fingerprint background check and is tied to the company that employs the officer. Registrations and commissions are renewed with continuing education, and a Level III officer re-qualifies with the firearm.

What the state courses cover

The Level II course teaches the legal role of a private security officer, including the limits on detention, search and use of force; observation and reporting; emergency procedures; and professional conduct. The Level III course covers the same ground in more depth, adds the law on the use of deadly force and the officer’s responsibilities as an armed person, and ends with classroom and range instruction and a proficiency test with the type of firearm the officer will carry. The Level II article and the Level III article walk through each process.

What Price Protection adds

The state course teaches the law. It does not teach a property. Every officer, whatever the level, is trained by the company in its security protocols, customer service, incident reporting, first aid and fire safety, and in reading and following post orders. Officers going to fire watch are trained in rounds, intervals, logs, extinguisher use and alarm procedures, and in the OSHA and NFPA rules that govern hot work. Officers going to a new property read and sign its post orders before the first shift. Then the daily review takes over: a supervisor reads every shift report and follows up the next day, which is the most effective training the company does.

Moving up

Officers who start unarmed and want armed work take the Level III course and qualify with a firearm; the company assigns them to armed posts once the commission is issued. Officers who show judgment and clean reporting over time are the ones considered for supervisory work, which involves walk-throughs with clients, writing post orders and conducting the daily review. The supervisor article describes that path.

Getting started

Apply through the application page with your current license details or your course status. The company will tell you which licensed training providers it works with and what the next step is. Applicants who already hold a registration should see the requirements page for the rest of the list.