If you decided to start working as a security guard in the state of Colorado then you have definitely made a good choice, particularly with regards to job opportunities and income. Both companies and individuals are becoming far more aware about crime and the services of security guards have become increasingly popular in the last decade. The most recent statistics clearly indicate that the security sector continues to expand. However, not just about anyone may start working as a security officer in the state of Colorado, because state law requires any person doing security-related work to be licensed.
In most States, a license must be requested through the state's licensing commissioner. In Colorado however, a personal security guard license, often referred to as guard card can only be requested from the city's licensing commissioner or clerk, since Colorado State will not issue licenses. You should also be aware of the fact that you must first seek for an employer who would like to hire you before you can make application for a security guard license. Without a future employer, you won't be able to complete the application form with all the required additional documents. But before we get to the actual application process, we should make sure to meet a few requirements and demands...
The initial demand is in fact an age condition. Yet before going into detail, you have to know that there are two varieties of licenses for security officers. The first being a license for unarmed guards, for which candidates should be at least 18 years old. For the second type of security license, which is only desired in case the guard needs to carry firearms at work, applicants need to be twenty one years old.
Secondly, Colorado guard license candidates need to follow a fundamental security guard training course in order to be properly prepared for the job. The course takes 8 hours and will cover topics such as verbal skill development, training on detainment of suspects and work ethics and legal issues. The course can be completed at a specialized guard training school which needs to be certified by Colorado State.
A third condition is to record and submit your fingerprints to enable a criminal record analysis by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. This way, the licensing commissioner can make sure that you have not committed any criminal offenses in past times and that you are professional enough to be occupied as a private security guard.
Once all desires are fulfilled, a guard license application form can be filled in and transmitted to the city clerk or licensing bureau. Make sure you include the 5 additional requested papers to the security guard license application form. In order to get hold of the first required set of requested documents, you will need to ask 3 individuals who have known you for more than one year to write a letter of reference and attach these to the application form. Please note that your references may not include family members. As a way to provide proof that you don't have any mental conditions that could prevent you from being employed as a private security guard, you will also have to consult a licensed physician and ask for a mental health certificate. Please be aware that you must apply for your security guard license within a time span of two months after the psychological health certificate got written. Next up in the list of mandatory files that ought to be included with the guard license application form is a letter of intent to hire from your future company. In this letter, the nature of your services need to be defined as well as the starting date of employment and the area where you will be working in. Next, you ought to add the evidence of criminal background verification which you were given from the CBI after you submitted your fingerprints for processing. The fifth and final set of files that is expected to be sent in with the license request form is a copy of your social security card and your CO driver's license or state identification card.
If you finished the education program and have a clean criminal history, there shouldn't be a problem in being granted a Colorado security guard license. Best of luck with your future career as a security guard!