TEEX to offer Texas Private Security Bureau courses

COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is now licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety Private Security Bureau. As a result, the agency may now deliver state-mandated training to students seeking employment as a security officer. With this new designation, TEEX now has the ability to expand training capabilities to deliver new training using curriculum provided by the Texas Private Security Bureau.

All individuals seeking a security officer license in Texas must successfully complete specific levels of training, dependent upon industry performance tasks. Each security license requires a different level of training. TEEX is offering the Texas Private Security Bureau Level II Course, required for all non-commissioned and commissioned security officer applicants.

“We are offering the Level II course online with the final exam being accomplished through face-to-face testing,” said Ed Brickley, Training Director for TEEX Public Safety & Security. Delivering this course online offers companies and individuals a cost-efficient training option, he added. The Level II course has been beta tested and students can register starting Nov. 1.

“By offering some of the training online, we can save companies and individuals time and money,” Brickley said. Security companies can reduce training costs by not having instructors and students committed to the classroom for eight hours.

TEEX is also developing the Level III Course, required for all commissioned and personal protection officer applicants, and the Level IV Course, required for all personal protection officer applicants.

“We are looking into the possibility of offering the Level III course in a blended learning format as well,” Brickley commented. Some modules would be offered online with the minimum 15 hours of hands-on weapons training and qualification provided by instructors at the TEEX firing range at the Texas A&M Riverside Campus in Bryan.

All security officers in Texas are required to complete annual continuing education to maintain their licenses. TEEX plans to offer additional online CEU courses to meet this need.

“Students in rural Texas, who are unable to find a school or training provider nearby, will now be able to access TEEX online training,” Brickley added. This is another example of TEEX’s commitment to offering employment and professional development training to rural and underserved populations, he said.