02-28-11

If you work as a “Bouncer” or security guard in California, you most likely have heard of the state security guard license nick-named the “Guard Card”. And, it wouldn’t be out of line to suggest that you might have even been told you need to get the Guard Card to work as a bar or club security guard.

Well, for over 25 years in the State of California, the Guard Card was the only license available for any type of security guard working in California. If you worked as a guard at a closed shopping mall, the Guard Card was the licensed you obtained. If you worked at a stadium or other sporting venue, you had to obtain the Guard Card. This was really the only license and training available, that is, until 2005.

In 2005, California Senate Bill 194 was signed into law and created the second state license for security guards in California. This new license was created specifically for all In House Security Guards and was named the Proprietary Private Security Officer or PPSO License.

Let's start this educational outline by trying to make this simple to understand. If you work in a bar, a restaurant, a hotel or any other job where you are hired and paid by a single employer that is not a security guard company, you are a PPSO. There are three other points to verify to see if you are truly a PPSO;

1. Your job requires you to interact with the public.
2. You wear a distinctive uniform (matching polo shirts, matching Dickie shirts or any other matching shirt)
3. You do not carry a firearm.

If you answer yes to all questions, you are a PPSO and fall under the new California license program. And, in January 2011, the training component for the PPSO went into effect mandating 16 hours of job specific training for every PPSO.

Now let me explain the opposite side of this discussion, the Guard Card. This part is fairly simple; if you work for a security guard company, also called a Private Patrol Operator (PPO), you are required to be licensed with the Guard Card. The Guard Card starts with 8 hours of training with another 32 hours over the next 6 months for a total of 40 hours of generic training. Another point, if you are currently working at a bar as an In House Security Guard or Bouncer and just happen to have a valid California Guard Card, you can continue to work at the bar until your Guard Card expires, then you must obtain the PPSO License.

So, all of this being said, here is the bottom line. If you work for a bar, restaurant, nightclub or any other alcohol service venue, you MUST have a Proprietary Private Security Officer license and not the Guard Card. If you work for a security guard company and are assigned duties by that company, you must have the Guard Card license.

Ok, I hope you understand the basic differences between the Guard Card and PPSO licenses. If the police come and conduct an inspection, and you have your PPSO license, you are fine, meaning; You would not be criminally liable. However, what about civil liability? In nearly every civil liability lawsuit I have seen, when some guest decides to sue the bar, their attorney asks for all training records. If the training is inadequate or taught something that was inappropriate, the civil lawsuit has a much better chance to succeed. The PPSO training was designed with this issue in mind. The Guard Card training was designed with no thought of a lawsuit against a bar or a club. From my years of experience, the PPSO should absolutely help reduce civil lawsuit liability.

I know this is a large amount of information to soak in, so if you have any questions, and you most likely will, feel free to contact us.