This article will show you the exact steps to obtain a California Guard Card in approximately seven to ten business days. In order to obtain your California Guard Card, you must first enroll in the “Power to Arrest” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” courses (eight hours total for both) either at an online training facility or at a local BSIS certified training facility.

California Guard Card Requirements are as follows:

• Be at least 18 years of age.

• Undergo a criminal history background check through the California Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

• Must complete 40 hours of State mandated security training by a state certified Private Patrol Operator or  a certified training facility.  The training can be administered online.

*Misdemeanor and felony convictions will not necessarily disqualify you from applying for a California Guard Card.  BSIS will review your offenses to determine your eligibility.

Listed below are a few reasons that you may be denied a license:

• Felony convictions
• Some misdemeanor convictions
• Failure to pay speeding or parking tickets
• Unpaid child support
• Unpaid state taxes

STEP 1 – Take the eight hour “Powers to Arrest”  and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” courses:

You must complete the eight hour ‘Power to Arrest’ and ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ courses and pass the examinations in order to apply for your license.     The  “Power to Arrest” and  “Weapons of Mass Destruction” training can be obtained from any BSIS approved  training facility. Upon completion of the eight hour course, you will receive a certificate of completion by the course instructor in person, or by means of email or through regular U.S. mail.  Upon receiving your certificate of completion, you will need to submit a copy of your certificate to the State of California when applying for your California Guard Card as outlined in step three.

STEP 2 – Submit your fingerprints

You will need to locate a live scan fingerprint facility in order to submit your fingerprints electronically utilizing the Live Scan service. You must only use the security guard Live Scan forms downloaded from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) website or directly obtained from BSIS. The Live Scan forms from BSIS contain the correct coding to ensure that BSIS receives the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and California Department of Justice (DOJ) clearances.  A breakdown of fees required at the time of fingerprinting that need to be paid at the Live Scan site are as follows:

• Department of Justice Fingerprint Fee $32.00
• Federal Bureau of Investigations Fingerprint Fee $19.00

Total: $51.00

Download Live Scan Forms

Locate a Live Scan fingerprinting center near you

Note:  Live Scan sites may charge a fingerprint submission fee.  The fee is not set by BSIS.

STEP 3 – Apply to the State of California

You will need to register on the BSIS state website before you can submit your application by utilizing the following link:

Register and submit an application to the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services

Registration fees will need to be paid by a major credit or debit card at the time of submission.  Once the registration fees have been paid, your online application will be sent electronically to BSIS.  A breakdown of fees required at the time of submission are as follows:

• Application Fee $50.00
• Online Convenience Fee $1.00

TOTAL $51.00

STEP 4 – Wait For Approval

Once the Bureau has received your online application and your criminal background check has been cleared, your name and California Guard Card security license number will appear on the Bureau’s website as cleared. You can verify the Bureau’s approval by checking the Bureau’s ‘Verify a License’ feature by utilizing the following link:

Verify a License

Once the California Guard Card online registration has been cleared and appears on the Bureau’s web site, a screen printout from the web site may be used as an interim license so that you can be placed on assignment.  Once you are placed on assignment, you must have the following documents in your possession at all times.

• A valid California Guard Card or a screen printout of the Bureau’s approval obtained from the Bureau’s web site.
• A valid United States Government issued photo I.D. such as a California drivers license, identification card or a U.S. Government issued passport.

Once the security guard registration has been cleared and appears on the BSIS website, your security license will be mailed to you and should be received in 10 to 15 business days.

The initial upfront cost in order to obtain the license will cost you approximately $160. You will be required to obtain another 16 hours of training by the 30th day of employment, while working as a licensed security guard with a California Guard Card. The remaining 16 hours of training (40 hours total) will need to be completed within six months from the start date of employment.

Want to know how to get a California Guard Card online?

Not quite sure where to start? Not sure how much a California Guard Card will cost you? This website will show you exactly how to get a California Guard Card online in just four simple steps!  You will find every piece of information that you will need to know and the resources you will need in order to get your California Guard Card online! Please do not bother wasting your precious time searching all over the internet because everything you need to know is located right here on this page!

The very first step is to take the  California Bureau of Investigative Services (BSIS) eight hour “Powers to Arrest” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” courses.  Both courses can be completed online or at a BSIS certified facility and costs approximately $59-$69. The “Powers to Arrest” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” courses are the first eight hours out of a total forty hours required; however, you will only need to take both courses to initially obtain the California Guard Card so that you can become employed as a Security Officer. You will have one month from the time you start employment to complete sixteen of the remaining thirty two hours of the required training and six months for the final sixteen hours of required training.

The second step is to get fingerprinted via Live Scan at a local Live Scan facility.  This process includes a Federal Bureau of Investigative services and Department of Justice criminal background check.  Keep in mind that not all felony or misdemeanor convictions will prevent you from obtaining a California Guard Card so don’t feel discouraged if you have a conviction.  The cost for fingerprinting is approximately $51 and does not include the livescan facility fee.

The third step to obtaining your California Guard Card online is to apply on the State of California website by filling out the BSIS guard card application forms and submitting your “Powers to Arrest” certificate that you will receive after taking the course as described in step one.  Applying to the State of California will cost you an additional $51 which will bring the total California Guard Card cost to $171.

The fourth and easiest step is to simply wait for your approval!  Since you have already completed the “Powers to Arrest” course, submitted your fingerprints via livescan and applied to the State, you can expect your approval in approximately seven to ten days. You can check the the BSIS website daily to see if your license has been approved.
Please visit our main page where you can find the complete four-step process on how to get a California Guard Card online.  Our main page includes web links to the appropriate state websites for you to start the process of obtaining your California Guard Card online.

California Security Guard Card

It is interesting to know that the State of California has almost the same number of sworn police officers as private security guards with a California Security Guard Card.  Private citizens and businesses see the need to hire private security services, despite the presence of law enforcement officers in their area. This is the reason the security service industry is a lucrative business within the US and became more lucrative after the September 11th world trade center incident happened.  The minimum requirement for joining the security guard industry is you have to be at least eighteen years old, you do not have a criminal record, and you possess a current California Security Guard Card.

One must have a California Security Guard Card before starting a career in the security guard industry because it is the first requirement you need in order for employers to hire you. If you are located in California, a California Security Guard Card can be acquired by enrolling in a security guard training school. You can either schedule an appointment at a BSIS certified training facility or take the courses online.  Make sure that the training school in which you will like to attend possesses a valid PPO or TFF license, otherwise your California Security Guard Card will not be issued.

Every security guard training school will offer a minimum eight-hour training course to teach you about the most basic security guard skills. The course will include training and information on ‘power to arrest’ procedures, terrorism awareness, and the most basic security guard training. Whether you take the course online or at a training school you will need to pass the final exam with a score of 100% in order to get your certificate of completion.

The exam should be simple and if you pay attention to the training, getting a passing score should not be a problem.  In the event that you do not pass the training exam, most training schools will give you the opportunity to take the exam again.  Choose the training school that offers this privilege to ensure you do not have to go through another training course just to take the exam. Although the cost for a training course is not that much at $60 to $120 depending on whether you are getting the course online or at a training school, it is still better to be able to save the money instead of paying for another training course.

The government agency responsible for assigning  California Security Guard Cards  is the Bureau of Safety and Investigative Services.  After passing your security guard training exam, you will need to locate a Live Scan facility to get  fingerprinted.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice will conduct a criminal background check against your identity. Prepare sixty to sixty five dollars for the Live Scan procedure and a valid government issued identification card such as a passport, driver’s license or a military identification card.

After submitting your fingerprints via Live Scan, you’ll need to register on the BSIS website and submit your application for a California Security Guard Card.   Once you’ve completed this step, BSIS can begin processing your official California Security Guard Card. It will take them another week before they can issue the card to you and you can start looking for work as a security officer.  In less than a month, anyone who is interested in starting a career in the private security guard industry in California will be able to do so as long as they are qualified, they pass the security guard training course, and pass a background check. Visit our main page for the complete step by step process with included web links on how to obtain a California Security Guard Card.