Your California requirements
What you will learn
- Identify the authority for your location
- Explain your next training and application steps
- Know which details to confirm before starting work
Connect the shared foundations to your state entry route and official next steps.
Your shift starts here
What would you do next?
You have finished the online foundations lessons and found an employer in California. The employer asks when you can start.
Choose a response to see what happens.
Put it into practice
Verify your training next step
You are considering paying for a course. Build this verification plan in dependency order: define your target, establish the relevant requirements, check the exact course against them, then use the confirmed answers to decide.
Select the steps in the order you would take them.
- Choose step 1 below
Lesson notes & sources
Your state entry route
The standard California agency-guard route is BSIS Security Guard Registration. Applicants must be at least 18 and pass DOJ/FBI background checks.
Complete three hours of Power to Arrest and five hours of Appropriate Use of Force. From January 1, 2026, complete the entire initial training with one provider/instructor within six months before applying.
Take initial training
Use an authorized provider and complete the required in-person components.
Apply and fingerprint
Apply through BreEZe and use the correct BSIS Live Scan form.
Verify issuance
Confirm registration is issued before starting guard duties.
Finish skills training
Complete 16 additional hours within 30 days of initial registration and another 16 within six months of registration. Retain your certificates.
Confirm your situation
Eight hours of continuing training are required annually.
Proprietary in-house security has a separate registration route.
Prepare for your assessment route
California’s initial course covers three hours of Power to Arrest and five hours of Appropriate Use of Force. The published assessment requires 100%. From 2026-01-01, one instructor must teach and certify the whole course within the six months before application.
Attend the required in-person use-of-force elements. Confirm the assessment format and timing with your instructor, and check the further training required after registration or employment.
Keep your sources current
These sources were checked on 2026-09-16. Check the linked regulator for changes before applying.
The Get Licensed foundations course is supplementary preparation. Follow the required approved training and authorisation process for your location.