Raising Standards: FBI Criminal Record Checks Are Vital to Public Safety & Trust

Recent high-profile media stories, such as CNN’s “Hired Guns”, have focused attention on our country’s patchwork of regulations governing the hiring and training of private security officers. While sensationalized, these stories spotlight a serious issue: Inadequate and inconsistent regulatory standards can open the door for the hiring of armed and unarmed security officers who are ill-trained and unfit for their role.  

In an increasingly dangerous world, our nation’s approximately 1,000,000 private security officers protect the businesses and homes of our communities, including our most critical infrastructure. The American public places their trust in security officers every day. Responsible, quality-conscious security officer service providers understand that appropriate regulation is vital to “raising the bar” on security officer standards and performance. For this reason, Allied Universal has consistently provided its support of legislation that raises standards, elevates the quality of security officers and promotes public safety and confidence.  

As an industry leader, Allied Universal is proud to support Senator Patrick Toomey’s (PA) “Security Officer Screener Improvement Act of 2014” (SOSIA). This legislation addresses a critical gap in screening of private security officer candidates, by enabling employers of security officers to access FBI criminal databases for background checks on their security officers when an FBI check is unavailable from the state of employment. While a number of states already conduct FBI checks on security officers as part of the licensing process, many others conduct only state criminal checks. A few states do not require a criminal check on security officers at all. Allied Universal conducts its own state-level checks for all security officers we hire. Industry-wide access to FBI criminal background checks represents a major step forward in ensuring only the most trust-worthy individuals fulfill the vital role of private security officer. 

Access the Security Officer Screener Improvement Act. Allied Universal urges any American interested in public safety and security to contact their member of congress and show their support for S. 2647. 

You can also learn more about this issue on SecurityInfoWatch.com.

About the Author 
David Buckman is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Allied Universal. He is responsible for all legal affairs of the company, including strategic transactions, contract management, compliance, corporate governance, litigation, licensing, risk management, and labor and employment.