Why Licensed Guards Matter: The Liability You Can't Afford to Ignore

In 2023, a nightclub in Atlanta settled for $4.2 million after a patron was injured by an unlicensed bouncer who used excessive force. The guard had no formal training, no state license, and no background check. The club's insurance refused to cover the claim because the guard wasn't properly credentialed. The club's owner said the same thing they all say: "We didn't know."

That excuse costs businesses millions of dollars every year.

The Licensing Reality Most Businesses Don't Understand

Every state in the U.S. has some form of security guard licensing requirement. In California, it's the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS). In New York, it's the Division of Licensing Services. In Texas, it's the Department of Public Safety. The requirements vary, but the principle is the same: if someone is providing security services for compensation, they need a license.

Here's what that actually means in practice:

What a License Requires

Most states mandate some combination of:

• •Background check — criminal history review, often including FBI fingerprint check
• •Training hours — California requires 40 hours of training within 6 months of licensure, including powers of arrest, terrorism awareness, and use of force
• •Continuing education — ongoing training requirements to maintain the license
• •Insurance or bond — proof of liability coverage
• •Drug screening — some states and most armed guard permits require it

For armed guards, the requirements escalate significantly: additional firearms training, psychological evaluation, and separate weapons permits.

What Happens Without One

When a guard doesn't have a license, none of those protections exist:

• •No verified background check — you don't know who you're putting in front of your customers
• •No use-of-force training — when something goes wrong, it goes very wrong
• •No insurance coverage — your general liability policy probably excludes unlicensed security
• •No regulatory accountability — if the guard acts improperly, there's no licensing board to discipline them

You're essentially putting an untrained stranger in a position of authority over your customers and calling it "security."

Real Cases, Real Consequences

The Concert Venue

A mid-size concert venue in Houston hired guards through a staffing agency that didn't verify licensing. During a sold-out show, an altercation between a guard and an attendee resulted in serious injuries. The venue was sued for negligent hiring. The staffing agency had no insurance. The venue's own policy excluded claims involving unlicensed personnel. Settlement: $2.8 million out of pocket.

The Retail Chain

A national retail chain used a security company that subcontracted to individual guards. Three of those guards turned out to have criminal records that would have disqualified them from licensing. When one was caught stealing merchandise, the chain discovered it had no recourse — the guards were technically independent contractors with no verifiable credentials. Loss: $340,000 in theft plus legal fees.

The Property Manager

A property management company hired "off-duty" guards for a residential building without verifying their employment status or licensing. One guard was actually a former officer who had been terminated for misconduct. When a tenant filed a complaint about harassment, the property company discovered they had zero documentation proving the guard was qualified to be there. The lawsuit is still pending.

The Problem With "We Check Our Guards"

Most security agencies will tell you their guards are licensed and vetted. Some of them are telling the truth. But here's the uncomfortable reality:

Licenses expire. A guard can be fully licensed when hired and lapsed six months later. If no one is actively monitoring, you won't know until there's a problem.

Background checks have a shelf life. A clean background check from two years ago doesn't tell you what happened last month. Continuous monitoring is rare in traditional agencies.

Subcontracting obscures accountability. Many agencies subcontract to smaller firms, who subcontract to individual guards. By the time a guard shows up at your door, three companies might be involved and none of them has verified the others' compliance.

Paper documentation is easy to forge. A physical guard card or a photocopy of a license doesn't prove it's current. State databases are the only reliable source — and most clients never check them.

How Modern Platforms Solve This

The licensing problem isn't actually a "people" problem — it's a systems problem. When verification is manual, it breaks down. When it's automated, it doesn't.

Here's what automated compliance tracking looks like:

Real-Time License Verification

Every guard on the platform has their state license number verified against the issuing authority's database — not once, but continuously. If a license expires, is suspended, or is revoked, the guard is automatically deactivated and can't accept shifts.

This isn't a quarterly audit or an annual review. It's a live check that runs every time a guard is assigned to a shift.

Automated Background Monitoring

Initial background checks are table stakes. What matters is ongoing monitoring. Modern platforms run continuous background checks that flag new arrests, convictions, or other disqualifying events in real-time. A guard who was clean when hired but picks up a DUI on Saturday is flagged before their next shift on Monday.

Digital Credential Trail

Every guard's credentials — license, training certificates, background check results, insurance documentation — are stored digitally and tied to their profile. Clients can verify any guard's qualifications before they arrive on site. No phone calls. No paper shuffling. No trusting someone's word.

Compliance Reporting

When your insurance company, legal team, or a regulatory body asks "were all your guards properly licensed on the night of the incident?" the answer is a link to a dashboard showing every guard's credential status at that moment in time. Timestamped. Verified. Defensible.

What You Should Be Asking Your Security Provider

Whether you use Calvis or anyone else, here are the questions that separate a legitimate security provider from a liability risk:

1. •How do you verify guard licenses? — If the answer is "we check when they're hired," that's not enough.
2. •How often do you re-verify? — Anything less than continuous monitoring is a gap.
3. •Can I see a guard's credentials before they show up? — If the answer is no, ask why.
4. •What happens if a license expires mid-contract? — The right answer is "the guard is immediately pulled from service."
5. •Do you subcontract? — If yes, who verifies the subcontractor's guards?
6. •Can you provide a compliance audit trail? — If there's no digital record, there's no proof.

The Bottom Line

Licensed, vetted guards aren't a premium feature. They're the baseline. If your security provider can't prove — with real-time, verifiable data — that every guard on your site is properly credentialed, you're carrying risk you don't need to carry.

The lawsuits from unlicensed guards don't make headlines because they're rare. They make headlines because the settlements are enormous and the businesses involved always say the same thing: "We didn't know."

Now you know.