Free DC Security Officer Exam Flashcards

Under DCMR Section 17-2102, a District of Columbia security officer must be at least 18 years old and either a U.S. citizen or hold a valid Immigration and Naturalization Service work permit. Applicants also pass a criminal-history and health review and must be sponsored by a DLCP-licensed security agency. Note: the higher age-21 and citizen-only requirements apply to Special Police Officers (SPOs), not to regular security officers.

DCMR Section 17-2108 requires at least 24 hours of pre-assignment training generally relating to the officer's duties, plus a 16-hour on-the-job training course completed within the first 90 working days of employment. The pre-assignment training must cover terrorism awareness (building evacuation, unattended packages, unknown substances), emergency procedures including first aid, and customer service and interaction with tourists.

No. The Metropolitan Police Department states that security officers have no arrest authority. A security officer's core role is to observe and report and to act as a visible deterrent. They may only make a private-citizen arrest under D.C. Code Section 23-582 for a felony or enumerated offense committed in their presence, and must deliver that person to a law enforcement officer without unreasonable delay. Only commissioned Special Police Officers (SPOs) have the fuller arrest authority on their premises.

A Security Officer observes and reports, may carry only a wooden baton, must be 18 or older, and needs a valid work permit if not a U.S. citizen. A Special Police Officer is commissioned through MPD, may arrest on the premises they protect under D.C. Code Section 23-582, may carry a firearm with proper authorization, must be at least 21 years old, and must be a U.S. citizen. SPO status requires additional training beyond the security officer course.

The exam is a computer-based test delivered through Pearson VUE with approximately 40 multiple-choice questions and roughly a one-hour time limit. A score of about 70% is required to pass. DLCP does not publish an official pass rate for the exam.

DLCP and DCMR Title 17 do not publish a mandatory waiting period between attempts at the security officer examination, and no statutory cooling-off period is set in the regulations. In practice you re-register and reschedule through Pearson VUE subject to seat availability and any applicable re-registration fee. Confirm current retake rules with DLCP or Pearson VUE before rebooking, because policies can change.