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 courses or portions of the training may be substituted with that law enforcement experience and identify any knowledge or skills that must be demonstrated prior to certification," Howell said. She said the rulemaking process would also allow DPSST to consider corrections officers, parole and probation officers, reserve officers and out‑of‑state law‑enforcement experience.

Patrick Singh, representing the Professional Security Association of Oregon and the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs, said proponents originally sought a statutory abbreviated path for current and former officers but worked with DPSST to move the details to rulemaking so the agency could align the policy with its existing standards. "We thank DPSST for their work on that and hope that we can engage with them during that process," Singh said.

State Rep. Jeff Helfrich (R‑House District 52), the bill sponsor, described his more than 25 years in law enforcement and said the bill would not remove background checks or firearms‑qualification requirements. "The intent of this measure is not to remove any requirements for background checks, department requirements for moral fitness, nor does it bypass exam or firearms qualifications or licensing," Helfrich said. He said the measure would allow qualifying officers to complete a refresher course—typically a four‑hour course for armed professionals—instead of the full 24‑hour basic private security course when appropriate.

Howell provided additional implementation details for the committee: DPSST currently certifies and licenses more than 26,000 private security professionals, instructors and managers; private security basic training generally ranges from 12 to 24 hours per certification; certifications are issued for two years; and refresher training on renewal typically runs about four hours and includes an exam. Howell said rulemaking would allow DPSST to set eligibility criteria, including how recently the law‑enforcement experience occurred and whether the prior certification was "in good standing."

The bill record on the House floor was noted in committee testimony as 51 ayes and 0 nays. No committee vote was taken at the April 21 hearing; the committee chair said a work session will be scheduled in the near future. The chair closed the public hearing on HB 2183A later in the meeting.

The committee did not take up a planned work session on House Bill 2461 at the same sitting; the chair announced that HB 2461 would be carried over to the next day, Tuesday, April 22, for a work session.

Next steps: DPSST would begin rulemaking if the bill is enacted, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will schedule a work session on HB 2183A. The committee also rescheduled the work session on HB 2461 for April 22.