How to Properly Vet a Security Company In Florida!
Updated: 9 hours ago
Hiring a security company means trusting someone with your property, employees, residents, customers, assets, and sometimes their safety.
Before comparing uniforms, patrol vehicles, technology, or even price, there is one question you should always ask:
Verify before you hire. Always ask a Florida security company for its DACS license number and independently verify it through the Online Private Security system.
What Is Your Florida DACS License Number?
Always ask for the Florida DACS license number.
Not sometimes. Not only for a large contract. Not after you have already signed an agreement.
Ask before hiring the company.
A company telling you that it is licensed is not enough. A business card is not enough. A professional website is not enough. A marked patrol vehicle is not enough.
Even being shown a paper or electronic copy of a license should not be the end of your verification.
Ask for the actual Florida DACS license number and verify it yourself.
Don't Just Look at a Paper License — Verify It
You should absolutely ask a prospective security company for its license information and documentation.
However, paperwork alone should never be your only source of verification.
A printed license, photograph, screenshot, PDF, or other copy can potentially be outdated, altered, copied, or simply no longer reflect the company's current licensing status.
The State of Florida provides the public with the Online Private Security system, which allows you to independently check licensing information.
The physical license is something you should ask to see.
Online is where you verify it.
How to Verify a Florida Security Company
Start by visiting the Florida Online Private Security portal:
On the homepage, look for “Search for a Private Investigator, Security Officer or Recovery Agent” or Search for a Private Investigative, Security or Recovery Agency or School”
You do not need to take the company's word for its licensing status. You can search the state's system yourself.
Complete the CAPTCHA confirming that you are not a robot. You will then be able to choose between searches for Individuals, Businesses, or Training providers.
When vetting a security company, select “Businesses.”
Search Using the Florida DACS License Number
This is another reason we recommend asking the company for its Florida DACS license number first.
Instead of relying only on a company name—which may be similar to another business name—you have a specific license number to verify.
Florida private-security business license numbers will begin with a letter, such as B.
Enter the information and search for the company.
If you are looking specifically for a company providing security guard services, TOPS also provides filters that can help narrow the search, including “Security Agency.”
Once you locate the company, don't stop because its name appeared.
Open the record.
Read the Entire FDACS Record
The site can provide considerably more information than simply confirming that a company exists.
Depending on the record, you may be able to see information including:
Business name
Florida DACS license number
License expiration date
License class
Current license status
Services the company is authorized to provide
Mailing address
Stakeholders associated with the company
Look at all of it.
Most importantly, look at the company's current status and the services it is authorized to provide.
If you are hiring a company for security guard services, verify that its record reflects authorization for Security Agency services.
If a company is offering another regulated service, such as private investigations, verify that authorization too.
Finding a company online does not mean you should automatically assume it is currently authorized to provide every service it is offering.
Compare the Info With What You Were Told
Now compare the state's information with what the security company gave you.
Does the business name match?
Does the Florida DACS license number match?
Is the license status Active?
Is the license current?
Is the company authorized for the service it is trying to sell you?
Does the business information make sense?
If something doesn't match, ask about it before signing a contract.
And if a company will not give you its Florida DACS license number in the first place, that should give you a very good reason to stop and ask why.
Now Verify the Individual Security Officers
Vetting the company is only part of the process.
The site also provides an “Security Officer” search.
That matters because your contract may be with a security company, but the individual security officers assigned to your property are the people actually providing the service.
Ask the company about the officers it intends to assign to your account and how it verifies their credentials.
Where appropriate, use the site to independently verify individual licensing or registration information.
Don't simply assume that because the company itself is licensed, every person wearing that company's uniform is automatically properly credentialed for every duty they are performing.
Every person working in the capacity of a security officer is required to have a Security Company issued Identification card,
Security Agency Identification Card.
This card verifies that the employee is employed by a licenses security agency. This card MUST have the Employees Name, Employee License Number, Employee Signature,
Agency License Number, Agency Representative Signature and Issue Date
In addition to the above card the employee MUST possess one of the two State of Florida issued cards.
Blue Acknowledgement (Temporary) Blue Card.
This card verifies that the employee has substantially submitted all required documents and applied for a security license. This includes legal identification, 40 Hours of Training,
Fingerprints and Photograph.
(If a denial letter is sent to the applicant or company then the person MUST STOP working.)
Security Officer (Class "D") License Card.
This card verifies that the employee has been approved to work as a Security Officer.
Licensing Is the Minimum — Now Vet the Company
Once you've established that you're dealing with a properly licensed company, your vetting should continue.
Ask questions.
How does the company hire its officers?
What background screening does it conduct?
What training is required beyond minimum licensing requirements?
How are officers selected for specific properties?
Who supervises them?
How often does a supervisor visit the property?
What happens when an officer calls out?
What happens when an officer doesn't show up?
Who handles a serious incident at 2:00 a.m.?
How are complaints investigated?
How does management know officers are actually completing the work the client is paying for?
The answers to those questions can tell you much more about the service you are likely to receive after the contract is signed.
Ask to See the Company's Reporting
If you're paying for security services, you should know how those services are documented.
Ask to see examples.
A security company should be able to explain its reporting system and, when appropriate, provide properly redacted examples without exposing another client's confidential information.
Depending on the services you're purchasing, ask about:
Daily activity reports
Incident reports
Patrol documentation
GPS verification
Dispatch records
Photographs
Supervisor responses
Calls for service
Body-worn cameras
Vehicle cameras
Evidence retention
Client access to reports or activity information
If you're purchasing multiple patrol visits every night, for example, ask how you can verify those visits actually occurred.
Technology doesn't automatically make a security company better.
What matters is whether the company uses its technology to create accountability.
Ask About Insurance
Don't overlook insurance.
Online business records don't provide an insurance policy or expiration date. Review it as part of your license verification.
You can also ask the company for appropriate proof of insurance.
Again, don't simply collect the document and put it in a folder.
Review it.
Make sure the company identified on the documentation is the company you're actually contracting with, and ask questions about anything that doesn't make sense.
Check References and Reputation
References and online reviews can also be useful, but they should be one part of your vetting process—not the entire process.
A five-star rating doesn't replace a Florida DACS license.
A polished website doesn't replace a Florida DACS license.
A fleet of impressive patrol vehicles doesn't replace a Florida DACS license.
And a salesperson telling you, “We're fully licensed and insured,” doesn't replace actually verifying it.
Ask for the Florida DACS license number.
Then check it yourself.
Don't Choose Security Based on Price Alone
Price matters. Every apartment community, HOA, business, construction site, retail center, or organization has a budget.
But when one security proposal is dramatically cheaper than every other qualified provider, ask why.
Ask how much training is included.
Ask about supervision.
Ask about equipment.
Ask how absences are covered.
Ask whether there is after-hours management support.
Ask how officers communicate with dispatch or supervisors.
Ask how patrols are verified.
Ask how reports are reviewed.
A lower price doesn't automatically mean a bad security company, just as a higher price doesn't automatically mean a good one.
The point is to understand what you're actually purchasing.
Meet the People Who Will Be Responsible for Your Property
Whenever practical, speak with the people who will actually be responsible for your account.
Who is your point of contact after the contract is signed?
Who handles problems after normal business hours?
Who supervises the officers?
Who responds when something serious happens?
Security isn't just a product being delivered. You're hiring people to make decisions in situations that may involve your residents, employees, customers, property, or emergency responders.
Knowing who is responsible matters.
And Yes — Verify Emerald Coast Security Agency Too
We aren't asking anyone to apply a standard to another security company that we wouldn't want applied to us.
If you're considering Emerald Coast Security Agency, ask us for our Florida DACS license number.
In fact, here it is:
Florida DACS License #B3300007
But don't stop because we gave it to you.
Go to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and verify it yourself.
Search our license number.
Look at our company.
Check our status.
Check our expiration information.
Look at our authorized services.
Review the information the State of Florida provides.
Then ask us questions.
We believe clients should do this with us, with our competitors, and with any security provider they are considering.
Trust, But Verify
Security companies ask their clients for an extraordinary amount of trust.
That trust shouldn't begin with a sales presentation.
It should begin with verification.
So before you hire your next security provider, remember the first question:
What is your Florida DACS license number?
Get the number.
Check online.
Verify the company.
Verify the officers.
Ask about insurance, training, supervision, reporting, accountability, and response procedures.
Then make an informed decision about who you are trusting with your property and the people on it.
When it comes to your security needs, be strategic.
Emerald Coast Security Agency
309 Richard Jackson Blvd.
Suite 214
Panama City Beach, Florida 32407
(850) 888-6060
FLDACS B3300007
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