Frequently Asked Questions

You may take the baton training course if you already have a guard card or if you have submitted a guard card application that is pending with BSIS.

We offer the baton course to licensed security officers and individuals who have applied for a BSIS guard card. You should bring a valid state-issued ID or driver’s license to class, along with your guard card or a copy of your guard card application.

This course is intended only for licensed or applying security officers.

Yes. Valley Guard Training will provide you with proof of completion of the baton training course at the end of the class.

The official baton permit is issued by BSIS, not the training facility. After completing the course, you must submit your baton permit application and the $66 BSIS fee to receive your permit.

If you would like, our store can also provide a baton for purchase at a discounted price.

To take baton training in Van Nuys you need:

– To be 18 or older
– A California guard card, or a printout showing your guard card application is pending with BSIS
– A valid state-issued photo ID or driver’s license
– Your Social Security number
– Closed-toe shoes — this is a hands-on class and we cannot seat you without them

You do not need an active guard card in hand. A printout of your pending application is accepted. Firearms training is the course that always requires an active card.

We provide a baton for you to use during class. Do not bring your own.

Baton runs on scheduled dates only, starting at 9:00 sharp, and seats are prepaid when you register. Current dates are on the baton training schedule.

The permit itself is issued by BSIS, not by us, and BSIS reviews your criminal history as part of that decision. If you have a conviction on your record, read our Background Check section before you pay for the class — a record does not automatically disqualify you, but BSIS makes that call and we cannot predict it.

No. Do not bring your own baton to class.

We provide a baton for every student to use during training. That is the one you will train with, and it is included in the course fee — there is nothing to buy beforehand.

If you have questions about transporting or possessing a baton before you hold a permit, ask an attorney or your local law enforcement agency. We are not able to advise you on that.

If you want a baton of your own after the class, we sell them at our Van Nuys store and students get 10% off. See “Do you sell batons?”

Two years from the date BSIS issues it.

It is also tied to your guard card. If your guard card lapses, your baton permit is not in effect — even if the two years have not run out. Letting the guard card expire takes the baton permit down with it, and renewing the guard card later does not automatically bring it back.

Renew the baton permit before it expires. Renewal is $179 — $135 for the course plus a $44 BSIS fee — and you retake the same one-day class. See “How do I renew my baton permit?”

If you let it expire, you start over as a new applicant, which means the same class plus the higher $66 initial BSIS fee instead of $44. The class is the same either way; the difference is the state fee and the paperwork.

You can check your permit status and expiration through BreEZe, or track it alongside your guard card with a free GuardBoss account, which will remind you before it runs out.

Two ways, and the online route is easier.

The better option: log in to your BreEZe account on the BSIS site and submit the replacement request there. You pay the $25 fee online, there is nothing to print or mail, and it moves faster than paper.

If you would rather do it on paper, or you cannot get into your BreEZe account:

– Download the Application for Replacement of Baton Permit Card from our Forms and Manuals page, or from BSIS at bsis.ca.gov
– Fill in your permit number, your details, and the reason — lost, stolen, or damaged
– Sign it by hand. It is signed under penalty of perjury, so an electronic signature will not do
– Make a check or money order for $25 payable to Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
– Mail both to the address on the form

Either way, you do not have to retake the baton course. The training stands — only the card is being replaced.

While you wait, you may continue working with a baton as long as your guard card is active and your permit has not expired.

If you have lost the permit number too, you can find it in your BreEZe account, or call BSIS at (916) 322-4000.

That’s a much better answer, and it fixes an error I’d carried over from the original — I had the permit itself listing types.

Heading:

Does the baton permit cover all baton types?

Answer:

The permit itself does not name a baton type. It just says baton. What determines which types you are actually covered for is your training record, not the card in your pocket.

That distinction only matters when it really matters. If you ever have to use a baton and it ends up in court or under investigation, one of the first things requested is the training records from the facility that trained you. Those records show exactly what you were trained on, and when.

We train both the PR-24 and the ASP straight baton in the same class. So a student who completes our course, and holds a valid baton permit and an active guard card, has records covering both types.

The rule that follows from that: never work with a baton type you were not trained on. The permit will not stop you. The records will not back you up.

If you trained somewhere that covered only one type and you need the other, contact us about scheduling that training.