7,000 armed security guards could be working unlicensed in Louisiana
Baton Rouge LA April 27 2019
In response to estimates that as many as 7,000 armed security guards are operating without a license, the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners will, in the next few weeks, train 318 law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge to inspect the credentials of on-duty guards.
The issue of private security guards operating illegally isn’t a new one, nor is it unique to Louisiana. Still, LSBPSE Executive Director Fabian Blache says the board’s effort—called Operation Forged Alliance—has already caught 9,864 guards working illegally since the program had its soft launch in late 2017.
Typically, these guards provide security at retail centers, banks and hotels as well as being hired for private events.
They publicly pushed the initiative in New Orleans a couple of months ago, and Blache says he spoke to Baton Rouge Police Department officials on Tuesday about following suit.
State law mandates new security guards submit to a fingerprint background check before being vetted by the LSBPSE through the FBI and Louisiana State Police. While the board’s “nucleus of concern” is in New Orleans, Blache says the problem is visible throughout the state—including Baton Rouge—albeit often unwittingly.
“People think as long as they register as an LLC they can start advertising their services—they can’t,” Blache says. “By implementing this initiative and teaching this is in our ramped-up training of new license-holders, we’re making them understand the seriousness of these kinds of things.”
Operation Forged Alliance is a way to “force-amplify” the board’s reach, Blache says, by ultimately training thousands of officers statewide to introduce themselves to armed security guards on duty, ask for their registration card and, if they don’t have one, arrest them.
“The more engagement we get across the state,” he says, “the quicker we can mitigate the problem.”
Louisiana Business Report
