Training Requirements to Get a Guard Card
If you are a security guard, you must complete the 40-hour BSIS course syllabus within either
- the first 6 months of receiving your Guard Card;
- or within 6 months of the date you are hired to work as a security guard either by a PPO or PSE.
Bureau of Security and Investigative Services Guard Card Training Syllabus
The security guard training syllabus was developed by the BSIS as mandated by California State Law.
Guard Card Training Requirements on or before September 30, 2023
This training syllabus includes on or before September 30, 2023 (may be delayed until December 31, 2023):
+ 4 Hours of Powers to Arrest before applying for Guard Card
+ 4 Hours of Weapons of Mass Destruction & Terrorism before applying for Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of required security related courses within 3 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of required security related classes within 6 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of elective security related courses within 3 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of elective security related classes within 6 months of getting your Guard Card
= 40 Hours
Guard Card Training Requirements starting Oct 1, 2023
This training syllabus includes on or after October 1, 2023 (may be delayed until January 1, 2024):
+ 3 Hours of Powers to Arrest before applying for your Guard Card
+ 5 Hours of Use of Force before applying for your Guard Card. Most of this portion of the training can’t be completed online.
+ 8 Hours of required security related courses within 3 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of required security related classes within 6 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of elective security related courses within 3 months of getting your Guard Card
+ 8 Hours of elective security related classes within 6 months of getting your Guard Card
= 40 Hours
Note: The in-person training might not be required until after December 31, 2023. It depends on when the state regulatory committee approval department releases the new training materials to the public. The new training requirements were originally scheduled to start January 1, 2023, but have been delayed several times. The new training manuals are sunder review by the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) and will not be published until the OAL approves the manual.
Completion Certificate
For each course or group of courses you take and finish satisfactorily, the business or person providing your training must give you a Certificate of Completion. The certificate should have on it:
- The type of course(s) you took
- The number of hours of training you took
- Your name
- The name of the company you took the training from
- The name of the licensed instructor who taught the course
- The Training Provider license number of the company or person you took the training from
- The date you completed the course(s)
- A certificate of completion number (the BSIS uses this number for tracking purposes)
- A statement that the course you took complies with the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Skills Training Course for security guards
Guard Card Training Syllabus Class Topics
Guard Card Training Requirements on or before September 30, 2023
The following is the outline of the initial 8 hours of courses required to get your Guard Card up to September 30, 2023.
Powers to Arrest (4 Hours)
- Overview and Origin of Authority to Detain and Arrest
- Definition of a Detention
- Definition of an Arrest
- What is a Private Citizen’s Arrest
- Use of Force
- Legal
- Employer Policy
- Search and Seizure
- 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
- Acting as a Law Enforcement Agent
- Discovering Contraband
- Definition of Private/Public Property
- Jurisdiction
- Trespass
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism Awareness (4 Hours)
Note: This 4-hour training will no longer be required after September 30, 2023 due to CA law changes passed in 2021.
- Introduction and Overview of the Training
- The Role of a Security Officer
- The Nature of Terrorism
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Coordinating and Sharing of Critical Information
Guard Card Training Syllabus starting October 1, 2023
This training syllabus may be delayed until January 1, 2024.
Powers to Arrest (3 Hours)
- Overview of Powers to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Training Manual and subject matter.
- Responsibilities and ethics in citizen arrest and types of encounters.
- Relationship between security personnel and a peace officer in making an arrest.
- Limitations on security personnel power to arrest, and security personnel’s role including:
- Background on private security industry
- Contractual obligations
- Company policies
- Restrictions on searches and seizures.
- Criminal and civil liabilities, including both of the following:
- Personal liability
- Employer liability
- Trespass law.
- Ethics and communications.
- Emergency situation response, including response to medical emergencies.
- Security officer safety.
Appropriate Use of Force (5 Hours)
Note: This 5-hour training is required by a state law AB229 that was passed in 2021. Starting Oct 1, 2023, most of this 5-hours of training must be completed in a physical classroom with the instructor physically present with the students. This means that this Use of Force training can’t be completed fully online. See the syllabus below for which topics must be completed in-person.
Note: Any new hire must have completed the latest Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force course, even if they have an active guard card and have previously completed the “old” Power to Arrest and Weapons of Mass Destruction course. This new hire training requirement is how the BSIS can ensure all guards will eventually complete the Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force course.
Syllabus Objective: To introduce, instruct, and familiarize the individual on the appropriate use of force topics listed in section 7583.7 of the Business and Professions Code.
1. Legal standards for use of force
a. Statutes
b. Licensee and client contractual obligations
c. Civil and criminal liability
2. The use of objectively reasonable force – (In-person)
a. Objectively reasonable standard
b. Restraint techniques and their implications
c. Force options
d. Real-life scenarios
3. Duty to intercede
4. Supervisory responsibilities
a. Incident reporting requirements pursuant to 7583.2, 7583.4 and 7574.37 of the Business and Professions Code as applicable
5. Use of force review and analysis – (In-person)
a. Real-life scenarios
6. De-escalation and interpersonal communication training, including tactical methods that use time, distance, cover, and concealment, to avoid escalating situations that lead to violence – (In-person)
a. Common misconceptions and benefits of de-escalation
b. Four concepts of de-escalation
1. Self-control
2. Effective communication
3. Scene assessment and management
4. Force options
c. Real-life scenarios
7. Implicit and explicit bias and cultural competency as defined in Section 631
a. Define and explain:
1. Implicit bias
2. Explicit bias
3. Cultural competency
b. Strategies for effective communication within a diverse community
c. Real-life scenarios
8. Skills, including de-escalation techniques, to effectively, safely, and respectfully interact with people with disabilities or behavioral health issues
a. Strategies for identifying and effectively communicating and deescalating a situation with an individual with a disability or behavioral health issues
b. Real-life scenarios
9. Use of force scenarios, including simulations of low-frequency, high-risk situations and calls for service, shoot-or-don’t-shoot situations, and real time force option decision making – (In-person)
a. Factors that can affect an individual’s response when threatened with danger
b. Factors to consider before using force
c. Real-life scenarios
10. Mental health and policing, including bias and stigma
a. Categories of mental illness as defined in Section 631
b. Biases and stigmas surrounding mental illness
c. Real-life scenarios
11. Active shooter situations – (In-person)
a. Recognizing an active shooter situation
b. Roles and responsibilities of security personnel
c. Real-life scenarios
Traditional Classroom Instruction: Instruction where the instructor is physically present with students in a classroom, or on a firing range, and is available to answer student questions while providing the required training. The instructor provides demonstrations and hands-on instruction in order to establish each student’s proficiency as to the course content.
Non-Traditional Instruction: Instruction that includes, but is not limited to:
- The use of internet courses, distance learning, e-learning, or virtual classrooms; and
- The use of videos or media-based training modules without in-person instructors.
What should You Read Next?
- For more about the Guard Card training requirements, read Guard Card Training.
- For how to get online Guard Card training, read Take Online Courses.
- For how take go take a Guard Card course on-site at a security guard Training Provider, read Attend Classroom Courses.
- For more about additional training requirements after you become a security guard, read Guard Card Refresher Course.
- For the general steps to getting a Guard Card, read How to Get a Guard Card.