Massachusetts does not license individual security guards. The State Police Certification Unit licenses watch, guard or patrol agencies under M.G.L. chapter 147, sections 22 to 30, and those sections set the rules for every guard an agency employs. A separate appointment, special state police officer, gives some college and hospital security staff police arrest powers on their employer's property.
Which rules apply to you
- Agency guard: you work for a licensed agency that supplies guards to clients. Everything below applies to you.
- In-house guard: a business employs you to guard its own property, and does not let your services out to anyone else. The licensing law does not apply to you while you work for that employer (M.G.L. c.147 §23), so your employer sets the requirements.
- Special state police officer: you work for a college, university, school or licensed hospital that has asked the State Police to appoint you. See the section below.
Who an agency can hire
- No felony conviction, in any state (c.147 §28).
- No conviction for an offense involving moral turpitude. The State Police publishes the list it uses, about 11 pages of misdemeanors. It includes criminal harassment, violating an abuse prevention or harassment prevention order, identity fraud, impersonating a police officer, receiving stolen property, false crime reports, obstruction of justice, photographing someone nude without consent, and stolen valor. The statute sets no time limit.
- Armed work at 18 or older. No minor may be employed as a guard if the job requires firearms (c.147 §28). The law sets no minimum age for unarmed guards, so agencies set their own.
Before your first shift
- A sworn statement for the agency. You cannot be employed until you sign a statement under oath with your full name, date of birth and residence, your parents' names and places of birth, what you did for work in the past 3 years, and that you have no felony or moral turpitude conviction. The agency keeps it and hands it to the State Police on demand (c.147 §28).
- The State Police employee affidavit. Every employee of a licensed agency must also submit the Certification Unit's electronic affidavit, once for each licensed agency you work for. You need the company's email address, license number and name, and the resident manager's name.
- No state card or fee. You do not get a license from the state. An agency may issue you an ID card in a form the State Police approve, signed by both of you (c.147 §29).
Training
The state sets no training hours for agency guards. Your employer decides what training you get, so keep copies of every certificate: they are your proof of training when you change jobs.
Badges, vehicles and what you can say
- Badge: only a uniformed guard or watchman may wear one, on the left breast of the uniform, and it cannot say "Police" or carry any part of the state or a city's seal (c.147 §29).
- Vehicles: an agency vehicle cannot display "police" or "emergency" (c.147 §29). Agency names cannot contain "police" or "fire" either (c.147 §25).
- Confidentiality: a current or former employee who shares information from an assignment with anyone but the employer, except before a court or other authorized tribunal, faces a fine of up to $500, up to a year in jail, or both. The same penalty applies to a willfully false report to the employer (c.147 §28).
- Claiming a job you don't have: falsely saying you work or worked for a licensed agency is a fine of $50 to $500 (c.147 §28).
Strikes and labor disputes
Massachusetts keeps security agencies out of labor fights. A licensed agency and its employees may not interfere with lawful picketing, collective bargaining or employees' right to join a union; supply replacement workers or armed guards for property operating during a strike, beyond guards already regularly employed there; furnish armed guards on the highways for people involved in a labor dispute; or pay anyone for reports on employees' lawful union activity (c.147 §30). A violation carries a fine of $200 to $1,000, or 6 months to a year in jail, or both. An agency also cannot enter a workplace to deal with organizing, wages or working conditions (c.147 §27).
Weapons
- No armed guard license exists, but an agency's employees may carry only the weapons and equipment the State Police colonel authorizes. A firearm carried on duty must be loaded, and an imitation firearm is not allowed (c.147 §29).
- Carrying a handgun takes a License to Carry from the licensing authority where you live, usually the local police chief. You must be 21 or older, submit a basic firearms safety certificate, and sit for an interview on your first application. The license lasts up to 6 years and expires on a birthday 5 to 6 years after it is issued (M.G.L. c.140 §131).
Special state police officers
- At the request of a college, university, other school or licensed hospital, the State Police colonel may appoint its employees as special state police officers (M.G.L. c.22C §63).
- They have the same arrest powers as regular police officers for any crime on the institution's property.
- Appointments last 3 years, and officers remain subject to certification by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission.
- The institution applies to the Certification Unit; you do not apply on your own.
Starting your own agency
- Application: filed with the State Police colonel under oath, with certifications from 3 Massachusetts residents who have known you for at least 3 years, are not related to you, and vouch that you are honest and of good moral character (c.147 §24). No investigative experience is needed for a watch, guard or patrol license.
- Bars: no felony conviction in any state (c.147 §25).
- Cost: $550 for a new license and $150 to renew, plus a $5,000 surety bond. A renewal filed more than 6 months after expiration pays the new-license fee (c.147 §26).
- Term: one year, renewed annually (c.147 §25).
How tessura helps
A Massachusetts guard has no state card to renew, but the rest still expires: a License to Carry, CPR and first aid cards, and your employer's training and range qualifications. tessura is free for guards: keep every card and certificate in the credential wallet and get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each one expires.
tessura is not affiliated with the Massachusetts State Police or any state agency. Rules change, so confirm anything you rely on with the State Police Certification Unit.