California Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Examination (security guard registration) — exam facts
California
Every source below was read on 2026-09-03
| Administering body | Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), California Department of Consumer Affairs — exam delivered by a BSIS-approved training school, or the employer where it has a Bureau-qualified instructor There is no statewide test vendor. 16 CCR § 628(b) allows the training and the examination to be given by an approved training school or by the employer, provided the employer has a designated instructor knowledgeable in the Power to Arrest manual. Source: 16 CCR § 628(b) — BSIS Regulations (BSIS-published compilation, PDF) (2026-09-03) |
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| Questions | Not published by BSIS BSIS releases the examination and its answer key only to licensed training facilities and instructors on request, and publishes no question count. The 42 numbered items inside the training manual are headed “Review Questions” and are not the final examination. What we read and found nothing in: BSIS — Power to Arrest Answer Key (released to instructors on request) (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Security Guard Training Requirements (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Training Manual (revised July 2023, PDF) (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Resources and Training Materials (2026-09-03) |
| Time limit | The examination is untimed: BSIS instructs administrators to allow unlimited time. What BSIS does schedule is the course — Power to Arrest 3 hours, Appropriate Use of Force 5 hours — which is course length, not exam length. What we read and found nothing in: BSIS — Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Training Manual (revised July 2023, PDF) (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Security Guard Training Requirements (2026-09-03) |
| Passing score | 100% 16 CCR § 628(b): “An employee must receive a score of 100% on said examination.” The examination is open-book and may be retaken after review, so a first-attempt failure is not a barrier — but nothing below 100% completes the training. Source: 16 CCR § 628(b) — BSIS Regulations (BSIS-published compilation, PDF) (2026-09-03) |
| Fees |
BSIS prints two columns, “Prior to 10/1/2025” and “On or After 10/1/2025”, and notes that the date an application is submitted decides which applies; the later column is the one in force. Unreconciled conflict between official sources: 16 CCR § 640(f) still states $50 and $35 — the regulation was never conformed to the fee change. There is no separate examination fee: the exam is given inside the training course, whose tuition is set by each training facility and is not published by BSIS. Source: BSIS — Licensing Fees (fee schedule dated September 2025, PDF) (2026-09-03) |
| Languages offered | Not published by BSIS BSIS publishes one Power to Arrest training manual, in English, with no translated editions and no list of examination languages. What it does publish is an accommodation instruction: administrators are to assist employees who cannot read or write, including by reading the examination aloud. What we read and found nothing in: BSIS — Resources and Training Materials (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Security Guard Training Requirements (2026-09-03) · BSIS — Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Training Manual (revised July 2023, PDF) (2026-09-03) |
Change log
- 2026-09-03Fact sheet created. BSIS publishes no question count and no examination-language list; both are recorded as not published, with the pages read.
- 2025-10-01BSIS security guard registration fees changed: initial $55 → $60, renewal $40 → $44. The date an application is submitted decides which applies.
- 2023-07-01BSIS issued the current revision of the Power to Arrest and Appropriate Use of Force Training Manual (dated July 2023), which is the curriculum the examination is drawn from.