Start with licensing, not price
In California, any company providing contract security guard or patrol services must hold a Private Patrol Operator (PPO) license issued by BSIS, and every guard must hold a valid guard card. Both are checkable through BSIS's public license lookup — this takes a few minutes and should happen before any deeper conversation about pricing or scheduling. A company operating without current licensing is a legal and liability risk for the property that hires them, not just the company itself.
Beyond licensing, ask direct questions about insurance limits (general liability and workers' compensation), how officers are supervised (site visits, check-in calls, GPS-verified patrol routes), how incidents are documented and reported to you, and what the escalation process looks like if a guard doesn't show up or performs poorly. A company with clear, specific answers to all of this — not vague reassurance — is usually the more reliable choice.
Vetting checklist at a glance
| Area | What to ask for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing | PPO license number, verify with BSIS | Confirms legal authority to operate |
| Guard credentials | Guard card status, firearms permit if armed | Confirms individual officers are compliant |
| Insurance | Certificate of general liability and workers' comp | Protects you if something goes wrong on-site |
| Supervision | How often officers are checked, GPS/patrol verification | Confirms coverage is actually happening as billed |
| Reporting | Sample incident report, reporting cadence | Shows what documentation you'll actually receive |
Questions to ask every vendor before signing
- Can you provide your PPO license number so I can verify it with BSIS?
- What are your current general liability and workers' compensation coverage limits?
- How do you verify that patrol passes actually happened (GPS checkpoints, timestamped reports)?
- What does an incident report look like, and how quickly do we receive one after an event?
- What's your process if an assigned officer calls out or underperforms?
- How long have your current officers been with the company (a rough sense of turnover)?
Cost drivers to watch for in proposals
The lowest hourly rate in a set of bids isn't automatically the best value — check whether the rate includes supervision, reporting, and insurance at the levels described above, or whether those are stripped out to hit a lower number. Our RFP and vendor comparison toolkits (in the board toolkit) walk through comparing bids on scope rather than rate alone.
Official sources & local data
We link to the agencies rather than reprinting them, so you always land on the current version. Summit Force is not affiliated with or endorsed by any agency listed here.
Connected concepts
This page is a node in our security knowledge graph. Follow the chain instead of starting over.
- Vendor VettingPPO verification, insurance limits, supervision ratio, and turnover — checked before signature.
- Security RFPThe bid document that makes three vendors comparable on scope instead of on hourly rate alone.
- Board ApprovalThe vote: scope, budget, metrics, and the risk of doing nothing, in language directors accept.