Straight, practical guidance on Qualified Manager requirements, passing BSIS audits, and scaling a guard business — from someone who has actually done it.
If it isn't written, it didn't happen. What a California guard company should document — and the habits that hold up when a PAGA claim lands.
Read article →Contract security or in-house? The difference between a PPO and a PSE, and a one-question test for which you need.
Read article →The short answer is no. What to form instead — and why to decide before you apply to BSIS.
Read article →Beyond the BSIS fees: insurance, Live Scan, formation, the QM, and the four-month timeline you need to plan for.
Read article →An operator's read of the conference agenda — SB 1203 now law, the training-hours fight moving to BSIS rulemaking, insurance turning, and what it means for your PPO.
Read article →Workers' comp is turning upward after a decade of decreases, and commercial auto stopped counting cars. What to do before your renewal lands.
Read article →The experience hours under AB 1244, certifying them, the QM exam, Live Scan, and what it costs and how long it takes to qualify.
Read article →October in Rancho Mirage, with SB 1203 unresolved and a board election on the agenda. What a small PPO should actually do there — and why to confirm the dates before booking.
Read article →A strike authorization at the top of the market does not stay at the top of the market. What it does to your next bid, and the clause that protects you.
Read article →Annual hours, who pays, and who is allowed to teach them — plus the published figures that still do not reconcile, and why you should not budget off any of them yet.
Read article →Cal/OSHA must adopt a broader standard by December 31, 2026. For a guard company the plan is not paperwork — it is the exhibit.
Read article →California's SB 1203 would chain use-of-force training to a labor contract. The problem is real, but the mechanism is strange. An operator's take.
Read article →California ranks last among all fifty states for guard pay. Set the politics aside — low pay is also the engine of the turnover that bleeds a company dry.
Read article →Under SB 652, part of California's entry guard training must now be taken in person with a live instructor. Why an operator sees the friction as a feature.
Read article →Three men were sentenced for the 2021 killing of a retired officer working security in Oakland. A reminder of what we actually ask of the person on the post.
Read article →An honest, practical playbook for launching a licensed PPO — the QM, legal structure, BSIS application, insurance, training, and the mistakes that sink new owners.
Read article →The plain, step-by-step checklist for going from standing a post to owning a licensed security company in California — with a link to every official form.
Read article →The new wave of technology in contract security — and the discipline it demands. How to vet a platform before you sign, from data ownership to field adoption.
Read article →A practical checklist for PPOs — experience, BSIS knowledge, audit record, availability, and the red flags that should make you walk away.
Read article →BSIS requires one — but what does the role really cover, and why does the right QM protect your entire operation rather than just check a box?
Read article →The records, files, and everyday habits that turn a BSIS inspection into a non-event instead of a last-minute fire drill.
Read article →The avoidable mistakes I see operators make as they scale — bad hires, thin margins, compliance gaps — and how to build past them.
Read article →More articles coming soon. Want a topic covered? Send me a note.