TPSB Liaison ~ Quarterly Board Meeting Briefing

By: John Kahn, CPP – Committee Chair

The Texas Private Security Bureau̵= 7;s Board of Directors meets quarterly or four times in a fiscal year. Board Members are appointed to ser= ve on the TPSB Board. Their terms of service are offset to keep a consistency on = the Board. The current Texas Private Security Board m= embers are:

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The support staff members are:

· = ; = &nb= sp; = = Manager, Private Security Bureau

· = ; = DPS - Regulatory Licensing S= ervice

· = ; = Private Se= curity Bureau

· = ; TPSB Licensing

· = ; DPS- Regulatory Licensing Service

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The TPSB Quarterly Board Meetings a= re comprised of Agenda items and Licensees who need to approach the TPSB Board requesting decisions regarding licensing matters, and pending legislative matters & disposit= ions directly impacting licensees doing business as part of the security industr= y in Texas= .

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Each quarterly session has Meeting Minut= es that are edited and/or revised between the current quarterly session and the next quarterly meeting. These minutes offer a historical record of the current functioning TPSB Board. In future Newsletters, we’ll= cull some of the important security industry matters affecting us! If more information is desired, please go to: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb= /. In the future, likely by 3^{rd<=
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Quarter 2009, quarterly session min=
utes
will be posted on the TPSB Website.
Here are six (6) – actual Agenda Items & minutes
collected from the 4th Quarter &#=
8211;
October 2008 TPSB Board Session:}

Agenda Item III: Status report on pending proposed rules.

Secretar= y Smith wants the language for manager qualifications changed. There was no second to Secretary Smith’s motion. Item III was tabled pending further discussion by the Rules Committee.

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Agenda Item IV: Discussion regarding Rule 35.34, relating to employers’ 72 hour notification of an employee arrest= .&= nbsp;

Captain Bowie stated that there had been discussion = as to the enforcement of this Rule. He stated that the literal interpretation of the rule should be left up to a m= ore discretionary issue, meaning that as long as a manager or supervisor makes a good faith effort to get as much information and submit that to the Bureau, then he has satisfied the rule. He went on to say that all twenty seven trooper investigators of the Bureau we= re brought in for training in mid-October and this was one of the issues that = was addressed. Captain Bowie replied that the Trooper Investigators had already been instructed to operate under the revised version while pending approval.

Agenda Item V: Discussion and possible action = regarding Rule 35.201, relating to employee records for companies with records destro= yed and/or damaged by Hurricane Ike and other verifiable disasters.

Chairman Chism stated that it had come to the attention of the Board that some compa= nies were having difficulty reestablishing their company and employee files after Hurricane Ike. He had discuss= ed this matter with Captain Bowie and asked that the Bureau give assistance to= any companies in need of help recovering any documentation that may have been l= ost or damaged.

Agenda Item VIII: Discussion and possible action regarding proposed Rule 35.321, relating to types of entities required to be licensed as investigations companies under Occupations Code 1702.104.

Steve Moninger stated that the Board had two proposals before them. The first, proposed at the July 23= , 2008 Board meeting as well as a se= cond proposal to consider. Chairman Chism stated that due to the fact that the Board was currently involved in a lawsuit relating to this issue, the Board would go into Executive Session to discuss the matter. During Executive Session the Board discussed proposed R= ule 35.321 and decided not to discuss this issue further and to table the issue until a further date.

Agenda Item XIV: Discussion and possible action = regarding Class B misdemeanors not listed in the current rule.<= /b>

Steve Moninger stated some problems have arisen with the application of Rule 35.42. He said there are some= Class B misdemeanors not listed in the rule, that are Bs because they were only attempted. He proposed the following resolution:

For purposes of interpreting and implementing Rule 35.42:

(a)= = (b)= = (c)= =

He also stated that regarding subsection (c), it may be necessary to have discretion on the part of the manager.

Chairman Chism understood the need for this new language. He is currently involved with case= where a police officer filed on for felony family violence, but he pled guilty to= a Class C misdemeanor. He state= d that it is common to see with plea bargains. On a motion made by Secretary Smith= and seconded by Board member Crenshaw, the Board voted unanimously to approve t= he resolution to Rule 35.42.

Agenda Item XV: Report from Private Security Bu= reau.

Lieutenant Morgan, from the Bureau’s Investigations section, stated that for the period of 8/1/08 to 10/26/08 the Bureau investigated 1,129 violations. He said that there were 12 cases o= pened for operating with an expired license, 246 cases opened for operating with a suspended license, 88 cases opened for operating without a license and 51 criminal cases presented to prosecutors.

According to Lieutenant Morgan, the Bureau continues to be proactively and reactively working with members associations within the industry. He gave his appreciation to the tr= ooper investigators as well as the support staff that assists them on a daily bas= is.

Vice-Chairman Johnsen asked how many cases came from outside sources. Captain Bowie said it is possible = to have the system breakdown by sources. Vice-Chairman Johnsen was interested to know how many of the 88 cases were from outside, such as from other police agencies.

Chairman Chism was aware of both Houst= on and Dallas = task forces working with the trooper investigators. Vice-Chairman Johnsen was ha= ppy for the assistance but was curious as to what percentage came from other sources. Lieutenant Morgan st= ated that he would be happy to report that information, but he did not have acce= ss to that information at that time.

Reginald Andrews from the Bureau’s Licensing section to the Board stated that = for the period of 7/22/08-10/28/08 the Bureau received 140 original company applications, 1,377 renewal company applications, 10,200 original individual applications, and 8,550 renewal individual applications. He went on to say that for the sam= e time period the Licensing section issued 190 original company licenses, issued 1= ,414 company renewal licenses, issued 11,585 original individual licenses, issued 8,461 individual renewal licenses, and processed 6,345 employee information updates. He further stated th= at records indicate there are 5,043 active company licenses, 194 active school licenses, and 115,371 active individual registrants.