In-person training locations: Culver City, LA & Sacramento
In-person training locations: Culver City, LA & Sacramento
Explained by World Academia, a BSIS licensed training facility
BSIS is the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, the California state bureau that licenses and regulates the alarm, locksmith, private investigator, private security and repossession industries. If you came here looking for the agency itself, go straight to bsis.ca.gov: that is where applications, renewals and official forms live. This page explains in plain English what the bureau is and which of your problems it actually solves.
Everything below is sourced from bsis.ca.gov and dca.ca.gov
Quick answer
BSIS stands for the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. It is a bureau inside the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and it licenses and regulates California's alarm, locksmith, private investigator, private security and repossession industries. Its stated mission is to protect and serve the public through regulatory oversight of the professions in its jurisdiction. For security guards, BSIS is the body that issues the guard card.
BSIS regulates five industries: alarm, locksmith, private investigator, private security services and repossession. These are the credentials it issues, grouped by who holds them.
| Held by | Credential | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Person | Security guard registration | The guard card. A person employed by a licensed private patrol operator or a private security employer to protect people or property. |
| Person | Exposed firearm permit | Lets the holder carry an exposed, loaded firearm, only in the calibers on the permit, and only while performing the duties of the licence it is attached to. |
| Person | Baton permit | Required to carry a baton on duty. You must already be a registered guard and complete a course at a Bureau approved baton facility. |
| Person | Alarm company employee | An alarm agent employed by a licensed alarm company. |
| Person | Locksmith employee | A person working for a licensed locksmith company. |
| Person | Proprietary private security officer | A guard employed directly by the business being protected, rather than by a contract guard company. |
| Person | Repossession agency employee | A person working for a licensed repossession agency. |
| Person | Private investigator | The individual PI licence. |
| Company | Private patrol operator | The contract security company that employs guards and supplies them to clients. Includes qualified manager and branch office credentials. |
| Company | Alarm company operator | The alarm installation and monitoring business, with its qualified manager and branch offices. |
| Company | Locksmith company | The locksmith business and its branch offices. |
| Company | Proprietary private security employer | A business that employs its own in house security officers. |
| Company | Repossession agency | The repossession business and its qualified manager. |
| Facility | Training facility, baton or firearms | Facilities approved to deliver baton or firearms training, and the individual instructors approved to teach those courses. |
| Facility | Approved guard training provider | Guard training may be delivered by a private patrol operator, a Bureau certified training facility, or a Bureau approved course provider. World Academia holds ATG3001. |
| Feature | BSIS does this | BSIS does NOT do this |
|---|---|---|
| Issues and renews guard cards and permits | ✓ | ✗ |
| Runs your background check through DOJ and FBI | ✓ | ✗ |
| Publishes the public licence registry | ✓ | ✗ |
| Takes complaints and pursues unlicensed operators | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sets and publishes the fees | ✓ | ✗ |
| Trains you | ✗ | ✓ |
| Takes your fingerprints | ✗ | ✓ |
| Finds you a job | ✗ | ✓ |
| Controls how fast DOJ and FBI respond | ✗ | ✓ |
Paid to BSIS. An application received without the full fee is returned unprocessed.
The late figure is the $44 renewal plus a $25 delinquency fee.
For a lost or damaged card. These are BSIS fees and are separate from what any school charges for training.
Straight from the bureau's own contact page
(916) 322-4000 or (800) 952-5210, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm, excluding state holidays. Calls are answered by the Department of Consumer Affairs Consumer Information Center. The bureau itself warns that call volume means significant waits, and points people to its web form instead.
Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, P.O. Box 989002, West Sacramento, CA 95798-9002.
2420 Del Paso Road, Suite 270, Sacramento, CA 95834, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. Note that the bureau cannot take cash or check payments there: those go to the DCA Cashiering Office at 1625 North Market Blvd, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95834.
The Message the Bureau contact form is the route the bureau recommends for questions and status checks. Renewals, address updates and replacement licences run through BreEZe at breeze.ca.gov.
BSIS publishes every current licence on its Verify a License page, which searches the DCA registry. Our walkthrough is at <a href="/bsis-license-verification/">how to verify a BSIS license</a>.
BSIS charges $60 to apply, and the DOJ and FBI fingerprint fees are separate. The full picture including training is at <a href="/guard-card-cost-california/">what a guard card costs in California</a>.
BSIS recommends applying through BreEZe. Training is different: Part 1 is online, Part 2 is not. See <a href="/online-guard-card-california/">what you can and cannot complete online</a>.
Be at least 18, pass a DOJ and FBI background check, complete Power to Arrest training. The job, the pay and the full route are at <a href="/how-to-become-a-security-guard-california/">how to become a security guard in California</a>.
BSIS publishes an Application Processing Times page, updated weekly. Read it as two numbers: a target timeframe, and the date of the applications currently being worked through. Times shown apply to applications with no deficiencies.
That is BSIS. The bureau takes complaints against the industry or a licensee, online or on a downloadable form. Complaints about someone operating with no licence at all go to its Unlicensed Activity Action Unit.
BSIS stands for the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. It is a California state bureau that licenses and regulates the alarm, locksmith, private investigator, private security and repossession industries. Its stated mission is to protect and serve the public and consumers through effective regulatory oversight of the professions within its jurisdiction. Its official website is bsis.ca.gov.
No. BSIS is one bureau inside the California Department of Consumer Affairs. DCA is the parent department, made up of 36 different boards, bureaus, a committee, a commission and a program, which together license and regulate more than 3.4 million licensees across more than 280 licence types. BSIS handles only the security and investigative industries.
Yes. The guard card is a BSIS security guard registration, and only BSIS can issue it. To be eligible you must be at least 18, undergo a criminal history background check through the California DOJ and the FBI, and complete Power to Arrest training. You apply either online through BreEZe or on paper by mail. No training school can issue, approve or speed up a registration.
By phone on (916) 322-4000 or (800) 952-5210, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm, excluding state holidays. By mail at P.O. Box 989002, West Sacramento, CA 95798-9002. In person at 2420 Del Paso Road, Suite 270, Sacramento, CA 95834, open 8am to 5pm. The bureau warns about long call waits and recommends its Message the Bureau web form for questions and status checks.
No. BSIS does not teach anyone. It approves and licenses the people and facilities that do. The bureau states that guard training may be administered by a private patrol operator, a Bureau certified training facility, or a Bureau approved course provider. World Academia is one of those licensed providers, holding BSIS training facility license ATG3001. We are licensed by BSIS. We are not BSIS.
Use the BSIS Verify a License page. Choose the licence type, for example Security Guard or Private Patrol Operator, then narrow by name, city or county. It searches the Department of Consumer Affairs public registry. The same tool covers alarm companies, locksmiths, private investigators, repossession agencies, and baton and firearm training facilities. We walk through it step by step on our licence verification page.
BreEZe is the Department of Consumer Affairs online licensing and enforcement system. Through it you can apply for a licence, renew one, update your address, request a replacement, file a complaint, search public licences and subscribe to licence status changes. BSIS recommends applying and renewing there, and says it can reduce processing time by up to two weeks compared with paper.
BSIS publishes an Application Processing Times page that is updated weekly and shows both a target timeframe and the date of the applications currently being worked through. Applications are processed in the order received, and the published times apply only to applications with no deficiencies. Processing can take longer while the bureau waits for DOJ and FBI responses. Check the live page rather than relying on any third party number.
No. BSIS is a licensing and enforcement body, not an employer or a placement service. The bureau describes security guards as employed by licensed private patrol operators or private security employers, and those employers do their own hiring. World Academia trains you and issues a training certificate with a CERT number. Neither BSIS nor a training provider can promise you a job.
BSIS takes complaints against the industry and against its licensees. You can file online, or download the complaint form from the bureau's consumer complaints page, fill it in with as much detail as possible, and mail it to the address printed on the form. If the person or company holds no licence at all, report it to the Unlicensed Activity Action Unit instead.
