Tips on Choosing a Guard Card Training Provider
Because California and the BSIS task private patrol operators with keeping the training records for its security guards, it is important for a PPO to pick a Guard Card Training Provider that can help it with this record keeping.
When evaluating security guard training providers determine if they can:
- Allow you to securely track the progress of your security guards completing their training requirements using online reports. Should the BSIS audit your records, you can easily show them the online report to help show your compliance with the law. However, you should also keep paper records of completed training.
- Reasonable costs for training that don’t become a burden to your security officers or your company.
- If offering online Guard Card classes, provide easy, online registration and payment for the training.
- If offering online security guard courses, provide 24 hour access to the content for registered users.
- If offering in classroom security guard training, offer classes often at locations close to where your security guards live or work.
- Be able to host your custom training online at a fair cost. The cost of this service usually depends on how much custom training you have and whether it contains lengthy video content.
The Online Hosting of Your Custom Training
You may require your security guards to have custom training that isn’t mandated by the B.S.I.S., but that you think is important to your guards properly and safely performing their duties. Your insurance company may also require additional training to lower your premiums. This custom security guard training could relate to issues specific to your location or type of business. For example, you provide security guards to a hotel or chain of local hotels, and the hotel has specific requirements that relate to each of its locations or to its corporate policies.
You could also offer these custom courses as a way to help your security guards to meet their annual refresher course requirement.
You custom training can be minor with just a few pages or videos, or an extensive curriculum with many courses containing videos, slides and course handouts. For example, if you want some of your security guards to know about how to provide security services at a large sports or entertainment venue, you could have a video or paper handout that they must study and then take a review exam on.
Often you need to keep internal records of which security guards completed this custom training and when it was completed.
Because you’re not in the training or record keeping business, tracking this custom training materials and the associated completion records may be difficult or costly to do internally at your company. By selecting a Guard Card Training Provider that can put (host) your custom training materials online, allow your security guards to complete all or part of their training online and have a online training report that gives you secure access with a login ID and password to these records can streamline and lower the cost of your custom security guard training and record keeping.
One Guard Card Training Provider that can deliver this kind of custom training service for security guards at a reasonable cost is GuardCardCourses.com.
What should I Read Next?
- For information on providing training for the security guards who work for you, read Training Security Guards.
- If you aren’t sure if you need to register as a Private Security Employer or Private Patrol Operator, read How to Determine if You’re a PSE or PPO.