Senate Judiciary holds public hearing on using law-enforcement experience toward private-security certification

Salem — The Senate Committee on Judiciary opened a public hearing April 21 on House Bill 2183A, a measure that would direct the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) to adopt rules allowing prior law‑enforcement experience and training to count toward private security professional certification.

Supporters told the committee the change aims to increase professionalism in the private security industry by creating a targeted path for current and former police officers and other certified law‑enforcement practitioners to satisfy parts of private security training requirements.

Jennifer Howell, legislative coordinator for DPSST, told the committee the bill gives the agency authority to define "law enforcement experience" by rule and to identify which training topics could be waived or satisfied through a course‑challenge or bridge curriculum. "By rule, DPSST would identify which training…