A recent case out of Kitsap County, Washington, caught my attention because it highlights a problem many security guard services companies are not prepared for. A security officer working at a Salvation Army site was arrested after impersonating a police officer. He showed up at an active fire call in an SUV equipped with flashing lights, wore fake police badges and tactical gear, and carried a firearm. When officers ran his background, they discovered he had a prior felony conviction and had never been a law enforcement officer at all.
When questioned, the owner of the security company admitted that the security officer told him he was a police officer and fire inspector, and that the company never verified any of it…YIKES!
This incident is a reminder that some security guard companies need to beef up their verification of law enforcement officers (LEO). Verification for LEOs cannot be optional. Policies cannot be assumed. And when it comes to hiring actual or former LEOs, security guard companies must understand the risks, the rules, and the liabilities.
Here are four lessons every security guard service company should take from this incident and from my own personal experiences running my security company, Cequr Security.
1. Always Verify LEO Credentials EVERY Time
One of the riskiest mistakes in our industry is taking applicants at their word when they claim to be current law enforcement officers. Even if someone says they have worked for X years as an LEO, sounds confident, and presents themselves with authority, that is not enough verification for your company.
In the Kitsap County case, the security officer claimed years of law enforcement experience, yet a basic check revealed that none of it was true. He was not a detective. He was not an officer. He was actually a felon with no credentials.
If a security guard services company hires someone who claims a law enforcement background, the company must verify:
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Employment directly with the agency
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Actual roles and tenure
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Certification history
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Disciplinary history when allowed
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Whether the officer is active, retired, or decertified
A general background check does not verify any of this. The lesson is simple, trust must be backed by documentation.
2. Security Companies Need Written Policies Around LEO Behavior and Representation
At my former company, Cequr Security, we did hire off-duty LEOs, but only when my father or our business partner could personally vouch for them. Their biggest concern with hiring LEOs was hiring someone who might be a hot head or who might escalate a situation in a way that would expose us to liability.
A police officer has authority. A security officer has a responsibility. These roles are NOT the same.
This is why every security guard company needs written policies spelling out:
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What an off duty LEO can and cannot do
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What equipment or attire they are allowed to wear
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Whether they may carry a firearm and under what circumstances. But based on my experience, most LEOs will refuse to work if they are not allowed to carry their firearm.
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Whether they may leave the post to respond to off-site incidents
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How they should handle interactions with the public
Many companies avoid setting up these policies because they assume an LEO knows how to behave. What they don’t consider is that the LEO knows their department’s rules. They do not automatically know your company’s rules.
LEO-related policies protect the officer, the client, and the company.
3. Hiring LEOs Is Not a Cure All for Contract Performance
There is another lesson security guard companies need to understand. Hiring law enforcement officers is not a panacea. I respect law enforcement and appreciate the skill they bring. But that does not mean every LEO is well-suited for every type of security assignment.I learned this the hard way on one of the most profitable contracts we had EVER won.
Cequr had won a contract to provide security for six newly developed townhomes in Chicago. The developer of the townhomes had been threatened by a known “bad actor” in the neighborhood, so we brought in a team of off-duty LEOs to protect the site.
Unfortunately, one of the LEOs fell asleep during his evening shift. He woke up only after someone threw a brick through the window of the unit he was in. When he stepped outside, he saw that every large bay window and every glass door at all six properties had been smashed.
We lost that contract immediately. And it taught me a valuable lesson:
- Hiring a police officer does not guarantee performance.
- It does not guarantee attentiveness.
- It does not make a contract self-managing.
Security guard companies must be strategic about how they use LEO resources. Not every assignment requires a law enforcement background. Not every LEO thrives in slower, customer-oriented, detail-heavy work.
Assuming “LEO equals quality service” is one of the most common mistakes in our industry.
4. Understand Off-Duty LEO Department Rules and Liability
When you hire an active LEO, you are not just hiring the person. You are hiring someone who is bound by department policy. And those policies change.
During my time running Cequr, both the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office updated their rules around off-duty employment. They changed:
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Which jobs their officers could accept
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What types of enforcement actions were allowed while working security
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What actions their agency would defend in court
Because of those changes and to mitigate any actions taken by an LEO that was workin for us we suddenly had to track:
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Firearm requalification dates
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Department authorization forms
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Off-duty employment approvals
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Liability limitations
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Department specific restrictions
That responsibility fell on us, not the officer. Missing one date or misunderstanding one rule could have exposed the entire company to huge risks.
The complexity of that situation is one of the reasons we launched OfficerHR as part of the OfficerApps family of products. The manual process of tracking certifications, authorizations, expiration dates, and department policies was too risky to manage in an MS Excel. What we needed was a system that notified us before something expired and documented everything in one place.
With that being said, security companies must know:
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What the LEO’s department requires
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What the department forbids
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Whether the department will defend off-duty actions
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Whether your insurance will defend those actions
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Whether hiring an LEO increases or decreases the company’s liability
Remember, you cannot manage risk you do not understand.
Final Thought
The Kitsap County case is not an isolated incident. It is a warning. Security guard companies must stop relying on verbal claims and start building structured systems around hiring, verifying, and managing anyone with a law enforcement background. This is not just good practice. It is essential protection for your clients, your employees, and your company.
By Courtney Sparkman
Courtney is the founder and CEO of OfficerApps.com, a security guard company software provider and publisher of Security Guard Services Magazine. He is a renowned author and security industry syndicator who also hosts an active YouTube channel, helping thousands of his subscribers to grow their security guard companies.
