Level 2 is the unarmed, entry-level security course in Texas, and at East Texas Security Training Academy it runs entirely online. This post is about the mechanics of that: what you log into, how the material is put together, who is allowed to teach it, what you get at the end, and what online delivery means when your work week is already full.

Self-paced means you set the schedule

There is no live session you have to attend and no cohort you have to keep up with. You enroll, you get access, and you work through the material in the order it is laid out. Stop in the middle of a unit and pick it up where you left off.

Here is what that looks like in practice for people already working:

• Working a night shift and doing an hour in the morning before sleeping
• Finishing the whole thing in one sitting on a day off
• Doing it on a phone or tablet during breaks instead of on a computer at home
• Starting it the same evening a job offer came in, rather than waiting for a classroom date weeks out
• Living two hours from the nearest school and never driving anywhere for it

One thing worth saying plainly: self-paced is not the same as effortless. You are responsible for finishing it. Students who set aside a specific block of time get done. Students who mean to get to it eventually do not.

Where the material comes from

The Level 2 course content is prepared and approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety. A school does not get to write its own curriculum and call it Level 2. That is the reason an online Level 2 is not a watered-down version of a classroom one. The substance is fixed by the state; what differs is how it is delivered to you.

The same rule that requires the course, 37 TAC §35.141(a)(1), makes Level 2 the required training for a non-commissioned security officer license and the first step toward a commission. Note also that the rule text states no hour count for Level 2. If a site tells you the online course is legally shorter or longer than a classroom one, that number is not coming from the rule.

Who is allowed to teach it

Two routes exist. The licensee’s own designee may teach Level 2, which is how a security company trains its own new hires internally. Otherwise it is taught by a DPS-approved training school using a DPS-approved instructor. We are the second kind. Approval is why the certificate we issue is good, and it is the first thing you should check about any school, online or not. Everything on our course list runs under that same approval.

That in-house option is specific to Level 2. Level 3, the armed course, has no designee route at all; it can only be taught by an approved school with an approved instructor.

What the course covers

Four areas: Texas security law, professional responsibilities, emergency procedures, and ethics. The law portion is the part students underestimate. It deals with what a non-commissioned officer may do on a post and, more importantly, what an officer may not do. Emergency procedures cover how you respond and who you call when something happens on your property. Ethics and professional responsibility cover conduct, reporting, and how you carry yourself in a uniform.

There is no firearms content. Level 2 is unarmed all the way through, with no range component and no weapons handling. Nothing in this course authorizes you to carry on duty.

The certificate at the end

Completion is documented on the PSP 36 certificate. That is the form employers ask for and the document that goes with your registration application to DPS Regulatory Services. Save a digital copy somewhere you can find it, because you will be asked for it again when you change employers.

No continuing education for non-commissioned officers

This surprises people who have heard about renewal training. Under §35.161(b), non-commissioned security officers are specifically exempt from continuing education. Commissioned officers and personal protection officers are the ones who owe hours, which is what our armed security renewal course is for. As an unarmed officer you are not in that group.

What online delivery does not do

It does not handle your DPS application for you. It does not cover the fingerprinting and background portion that DPS handles. And it does not move you toward armed work, because that path requires a course with an in-person component. Taking Level 2 online has no effect on your ability to take Level 3 later; the online Level 2 certificate is the same certificate either way.

Our FAQs answer the questions we get most about licensing and course order, and you can reach us if something about your situation is not covered there. When you are ready, the course is open now rather than on a class date.