The single most common thing Laredo applicants get wrong about Level 2 is thinking it has something to do with a License to Carry. It does not — they are two unrelated credentials issued for two unrelated reasons.

An LTC Is Not a Security Licence, and Level 2 Is Not an LTC

People walk in holding a License to Carry and assume the hard part is behind them. It is not, because the two documents answer different questions. An LTC is a personal carry permit. A security officer licence is an occupational licence, regulated by the Texas DPS Private Security Bureau, that says you may be paid to perform security work in this state. Holding one does nothing for the other. You can have an LTC and still be unable to work a post legally, and you can be a fully licensed officer without ever holding an LTC.

Level 2 is the entry point into that occupational track. Under 37 TAC §35.141(a)(1) it has to be completed by anyone applying for a non-commissioned security officer licence, and it is also the required first step toward a security officer commission later on.

The Second Misconception: That There Is Range Time in It

There is not. Level 2 is the unarmed course. No firearms training and no firearms qualification is any part of it, and finishing it does not by itself let you carry a firearm on duty. That surprises people who have only ever heard security training described in one lump. What the course actually covers is Texas security law, the professional responsibilities of a security officer, emergency procedures, and ethics — the material an officer needs on a post where the job is observing, documenting, controlling access and knowing when to call someone else.

If carrying is the goal, that is a separate and later course. The Level 3 commissioned officer class is what a commission requires, and Level 2 comes first regardless.

What the Course Is Made Of

• Course material prepared or approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety, not written independently by the school.
• Texas security law and the legal limits an officer works inside.
• The professional responsibilities that attach to the role.
• Emergency procedures and ethics.
• A certificate of completion at the end — referred to on this site as PSP 36 — which must be submitted with your licence application.

Third Misconception: “My Company Can Just Sign Me Off”

This one is half right, and the half that is right is worth understanding before you assume a supervisor’s word counts. Level 2 may be taught either by the licensee’s own designated person or by a DPS-approved school with a DPS-approved instructor — §35.141(a)(1), §35.142 and §35.143 between them allow both routes. So an in-house option genuinely exists. What does not exist is an informal one: a manager telling you that you are “covered” without a properly delivered course and a certificate in hand is not an exemption. And this in-house route is a real difference from Level 3, which has no equivalent — commissioned training runs through an approved school, full stop.

Why Laredo Officers Ask About This More Than Most

Laredo runs on freight. The warehouse, transloading and logistics corridors along the north side of the city generate a steady demand for gate officers, trailer-yard access control and badge-desk staffing, and almost all of that work is unarmed. Add the retail centres, medical offices, hotels and school and campus front desks across the city and you have a hiring market where a non-commissioned licence is the credential that actually opens doors. Laredo is also far from most of the state’s training providers, which is the practical reason so many local applicants end up trying to piece the rules together from hearsay instead of from a class.

East Texas Security Training Academy delivers Level 2 100% online, which removes the distance problem entirely — you are not driving to San Antonio for a classroom seat. You can see the rest of what we run on the full class list.

One Last Correction: No Continuing Education

Plenty of people assume every licence in this industry drags a continuing-education obligation behind it. Noncommissioned security officers are specifically exempt from continuing education requirements under §35.161(b). That is worth knowing now, because it is one of the genuine advantages of working unarmed, and it changes once you move up: commissioned officers do carry a CE obligation and keep it current through the armed security renewal course. You can read the rule text yourself in 37 TAC Chapter 35, and our FAQ page handles the questions that come up most often after that.