Answer:
The Business, Careers, and Challenges of Security and Loss Prevention
Philip P. Purpura, in Security and Loss Prevention (Sixth Edition), 2013
Regulation of the Industry
The security vocation has its share of charlatans who tarnish the industry, and, as with many types of services offered to the public, government intervention has taken the form of licensing and registration. The Task Force Report and Hallcrest Reports recommend regulation of the security industry by all states. To protect consumers, the majority of states have varied laws that regulate, through licensing and registration, contract security officer services, private investigators, polygraph and other detection-of-deception specialists, and security alarm businesses. Security consultants are generally not regulated, but consumers should verify professional memberships and certifications. Although government regulation does not guarantee that all security practitioners will perform in a satisfactory manner, it does prevent people who have criminal records from entering the profession. In the case of applicants who have lived in multiple states, their backgrounds should be checked in each jurisdiction.
Another way the industry is regulated is through local, state, and federal agencies that contract out private security services and mandate various contract requirements (e.g., education, training, and character) to enhance professionalism and competence. Certain industries are regulated by the government and require stringent security standards. For example, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues rules and standards that must be followed by licensees of nuclear reactors to ensure safety and security. A variety of businesses, institutions, and other organizations also issue requirements. Notably, when a contract is awarded simply to the lowest bidder, professionalism may be sacrificed.
Attempts have been made through Congress to pass a national law to regulate the security industry. In 1995, Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) introduced H.R. 2092, The Private Security Officers Quality Assurance Act. It languished in Congress in various forms until Rep. Matthew Martinez (D-CA) introduced a similar bill. Known as the Barr-Martinez Bill, if passed, it would have provided state regulators with expedited FBI criminal background checks of prospective and newly hired security officers. The minimal training standards were struck from the bill. These would have required eight hours of training and four hours of on-the-job training for unarmed officers and an additional 15 hours for armed officers. Critics argued that states are against such a national law and state regulations are sufficient.
Finally, Congress passed the Private Security Officer Employment Authorization Act of 2004 (included in the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004), which enables security service businesses and proprietary security organizations in all 50 states to check whether applicants have a criminal history record with the FBI, which may emanate from one or more states. (National training requirements were not included in the legislation.) This law is significant and adds strength to criminal records checks of security officer applicants. Traditional name-based searches can result in false positives (i.e., an applicant’s name is incorrectly matched to an offender’s name or similar name) and false negatives (i.e., an applicant’s name does not result in a match because the applicant is using a different name or a database was omitted from the investigation). Because applicants may use different names and other bogus identifying information, fingerprints provide increased accuracy in background investigations. Under the act, security firm access to the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) also includes access to the Violent Gangs and Terrorism Organization File. Although not all security organizations are required to check these fingerprint databases for a match with their applicants, the effort and expense of doing so prevent litigation and the possibility that an applicant is a terrorist or other criminal. Cost is one of several factors that influence the extent of background investigations (Friedrick, 2005: 11).
Which government agency (or agencies) in your state regulates the private security industry? What are the requirements for contract security (“guard”) companies, private detectives, and security alarm installers? Are proprietary security organizations regulated in your state?