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The life and times of a commissioner and Texas Private Security board
member
by George Craig
I have been asked to write an article about what it is like to be a board member; I wish I had kept a journal. So many things have happened and so many things have changed I am challenged to remember them.
First of all, it might be interesting to know how one gets to be a board member. I have been in the uniformed security business since 1978 and have operated SCI Security in the Corpus Christi area since 1986. At the time I applied with the Governor�s Appointments Office I was an officer of A.S.S.I.S.T. When the appointment was made, I resigned that position, as it would have been a conflict of interest to hold both.
I was appointed to the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies by then Governor Bush in August of 1996 to fill the unexpired term of Robert Sanders. My fellow board members at that time were Melissa Hirsh (Chairman), Joel Glenn, Ben Nix, Jess Ann Thomason, Matthew Washington, and Col. Tommy Davis represented the Department of Public Safety. Keith Oakley was a member of the House of Representatives. Clema Sanders was the Executive Director and the Agency had just moved to new offices at 4930 South Congress. Since then there have been three Directors, two Interim Directors and two name changes.
As a new board member it takes some time to understand its inner workings. The Governor�s office provides excellent general orientation and the specific orientation provided by the Director is very helpful but there is nothing like the experience of attending multiple meetings to gain understanding and insight. Chapter 1702 of the Occupations Code is the law that creates and governs the board. It can only be changed by the Legislature. The board can, of course, change the rules and general policies adopted by the board. This seems like a simple point but was one of the first things I had to learn. The make up of the board is set by law and is described in chapter 1702.021 of the Occupations Code. Likewise, the powers and duties of the board are described in subchapter D of chapter 1702.061 which says:
�The Texas Commission on Private Security shall perform the functions and duties provided by this chapter.
(b) The commission shall adopt rules and general policies to guide the agency in the administration of this chapter.
(c) The rules and policies adopted by the commission under Subsection
(b) must be consistent with this chapter and other commission rules adopted under this chapter and with any other applicable law, state rule, or federal regulation.
(d) The commission has the powers and duties to:
(1) determine the qualifications of license holders, registrants, and commissioned security officers;
(2) investigate alleged violations of this chapter and of commission rules;
(3) adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter; and
(4) establish and enforce standards governing the safety and conduct of each person licensed, registered, or commissioned under this chapter.
(e) The commission shall have a seal in the form prescribed by the commission.
(f) The commission may commission investigators who are employed full-time by the commission as peace officers for the limited purpose of assisting the commission in investigating alleged violations of this chapter and of commission rules.
Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, � 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, � 14.573(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.�
Since I have been a board member we have implemented F.B.I. criminal background checks, eliminated mandatory videotapes for training and have given the director the authority to approve continuing education courses. We established the levels of training and who may teach them, changed the course of firearms training and the qualifications to teach it and changed the training to be type specific (revolver, semi-automatic, etc.).
Some of the other changes I remember are eliminating the lapel pin requirement for Personal Protection Officers, instituting drug testing for commissioned officers, expanding uniform requirements to include non-commissioned as well as commissioned officers, requiring notification of an arrest for a criminal offense above class �C,� and requiring notification of discharge of a firearm when on duty. The board reduced the time limitation for filing consumer complaints from 3 years to 2 years and reduced the time for employee records retention from 5 years to 2 years. We deleted all the board rules and adopted rewritten rules. We reduced the number of forms required, made them available on the internet, posted suspensions and denials on the internet and have worked with the Department of Information Resources Texas Online division so that, eventually, all licensing and registration can be submitted via the internet.
In the same time period, the Legislature has changed our name twice, increased the number of board members, decreased the number of board members, instituted summary suspension and denial, allowed the agency�s investigators to become peace officers, eliminated moral turpitude language, changed the qualifications to include no conviction of a class �B� within 5 years and no conviction of a class �A� or greater within 20 years, moved hearings to S.O.A.H., eliminated the requirement for police and sheriff�s letters, made pocket cards transferable, clarified terms and definitions and much more.
By far the most pleasurable experience I have had as a board member has been meeting and working with other board members, the staff and the people I have met throughout the security profession in the state of Texas. In conclusion there has been much accomplished and there is much to do in this rapidly changing procession.
For more information email [email protected].
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