Reliable Guard & Patrol Service posts licensed armed and unarmed officers at Houston commercial sites, and has covered more than 100 of them across the metro. The company holds Texas DPS license B07315701 and runs about 150 officers. Every patrol is GPS-tracked and written up as an incident report the client receives. There is no long-term contract, and the certificate of insurance goes out the same day.
Most best security services lists rank by star count. That is the wrong first question.
Search “best security services in Houston, TX” and the top results all do the same thing: they sort local guard companies by their Google or Birdeye star ratings and how many reviews each has. Star counts tell you a firm answers the phone and shows up. They do not tell you whether the officer standing on your site is licensed for the post, whether the company carries the insurance Texas law requires, or what you should be paying.
A review score is a popularity signal, not a purchase decision. The four things that protect you, license, insurance, patrol proof, and contract terms, sit under the surface of every listicle. Below is what each one means in Houston, the current numbers, and how to check a company against them before you sign. We hold Reliable Guard to the same four checks, and we show you how to verify us the same way you would verify anyone else.
What changed in Texas security licensing in 2026
The ranking pages all say “verify the DPS license” and stop there. One thing they have not caught up to: the rule itself changed this year. In 2026, Texas DPS adopted amendments to its private security rules requiring every new and renewal license applicant, individual and company, to prove eligibility under the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Proof is checked through the federal SAVE system, and acceptable documents include a REAL ID-compliant state ID, a U.S. passport, a certified birth record, or permanent-resident evidence.
For you as a buyer, the takeaway is simple. Licenses issued or renewed after the rule took effect went through an added eligibility check, so a current, clean license now carries a little more weight than it did last year. It is one more reason to confirm your provider’s license is active today, not just that it existed at some point.
How to verify any Houston security company’s license
You do not have to take a company’s word, ours included. The state runs a public license search. This is how to use it.
- Open the Texas TOPS portal. Go to the Texas Online Private Security public license search, run by the Department of Public Safety.
- Search by license number or company name. Enter a company number, for example ours, B07315701, or search the company name.
- Confirm the status is active. Check that the license is current and free of open issues. A lapsed or missing license is a real insurance and liability problem for you, the client, not just for the company.
- Ask for officer-level proof too. For an armed post, confirm the officer holds an active Level III commission. Reliable Guard provides officer names on request.
The three license levels you will see: Level II covers non-commissioned, unarmed officers who pass the state course and test. Level III covers commissioned, armed officers, with a minimum of 45 hours of training plus firearm proficiency. Level IV is personal protection, an added 15-hour minimum on top of Level III. Reliable Guard & Patrol Service staffs Level II and Level III and does not staff Level IV.
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A guard company is not an alarm dealer with a big review count
There is a distinction the “best of” lists blur, and it costs buyers real money. Some of the companies that rank high on raw review volume are not manned-guard providers at all. They are alarm and camera dealers, selling and installing systems, sometimes as an authorized dealer for a national brand. Their reviews come from hundreds of small equipment installs, which stacks the star count fast. The complaint patterns that follow tend to cluster around sales tactics, incomplete installs, and cancellation friction, the texture of a hardware sales business, not a patrol operation.
Cameras and alarms have their place. But a camera records a loss; an officer on site prevents one. If your problem is theft, trespass, or after-hours entry at a commercial property, you want a licensed guard company that puts a documented human on the ground. When you compare a “top-rated” name, check whether the reviews describe guards on sites or boxes on walls. Reliable Guard is manned guards only. We do not sell alarms, and we do not run alarm response.
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Free Armed & Unarmed Security Proposal
Why Houston businesses choose Reliable Guard & Patrol Service
Why Choose Our Armed Guards:
01. Fully Licensed to Carry in the State of Texas
02. Background-Checked and Drug Tested
03. Trained in Firearms Handling and De-Escalation
04. Experienced in High-Risk Property Protection
05. Serving Houston Businesses for Over 20 Years
06. Corporate, Construction, Retail, and Event Coverage
07. 24/7 Coverage Including Holidays
Armed or unarmed: which your Houston site needs
Most commercial posts are unarmed, and that is the right call more often than not. Unarmed officers handle deterrence and observe-and-report work: after-hours patrol of construction sites, warehouses, vacant buildings, and offices, plus access control, visitor checks, and loss prevention at retail. The risk on those posts is theft, trespass, and vandalism, not armed confrontation.
Choose armed when the site has cash on hand, high-value or easily resold assets, a history of violent incidents, or a credible, specific threat. A Level III commissioned officer carries a firearm on duty, which changes the deterrence and the response option on a high-risk post. It does not widen the officer’s legal authority, and it costs more per hour. Plenty of sites run unarmed patrol with a clear escalation plan instead of paying for armed coverage they do not need.
What a Texas security officer can legally do
This matters more than most buyers realize, because an officer who oversteps creates liability for the property owner, not only for the guard company. A licensed security officer in Texas has the authority of a private citizen, no more. What you are paying for is an officer trained to use that limited authority correctly and to document it, so a stopped incident holds up afterward.
Under Texas law, any person, including a security officer, may make a warrantless arrest only when a felony or a breach of the public peace happens in their presence or view (Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 14.01). For theft, the law also lets any person recover stolen property and hold the suspect when there are reasonable grounds to believe the property was stolen (Art. 18.16). A detained person is turned over to police without delay. An officer does not file charges, transport, or jail anyone, and any force is limited to what is reasonable under the same Penal Code rules that apply to any citizen. The controls that keep a stop defensible are training, clear post orders, and a written record.
Every officer clears six checks before a shift
Guard reliability is the thing clients worry about most, so the same six checks apply to every officer, on every site, before deployment. No officer works a post until they clear all six.
- DPS license verification. Active Texas DPS registration confirmed for the level the post requires.
- Fingerprint background check. Full criminal background screening with fingerprint-based checks consistent with state requirements.
- Drug testing. Pre-assignment drug testing, armed or unarmed, no exceptions.
- Interview to standard. An in-person interview against company conduct and presentation standards, not just a license check.
- Verified references. References contacted and confirmed. We verify history, we do not assume it.
- Recurring training. Unarmed officers complete Level II training. Armed officers requalify with firearm proficiency and continuing education at each two-year license renewal.
What we protect, and what we do not
Reliable Guard staffs two officer types across commercial sites only. Commercial posts are the whole business, which is why the officers know them. We do not take residential, HOA, or event work, and we do not run K-9, fire watch, alarm response, or parking enforcement.
What stopping a loss actually looks like
Most of the losses we stop happen overnight, before a break-in is finished. The entries below are drawn from our patrol logs, with client names and exact addresses removed. They are the reason a documented officer on site beats a camera nobody is watching. Every one was GPS-logged and written up as an incident report the client received.
Construction site. A pickup circled the site, then stopped near a gated entrance while the occupants studied the access points. The officer switched on the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and moved toward the gate. The truck left. The officer logged the vehicle description and notified site management. No property lost.
Construction site. Two people carried materials toward the perimeter fence in an unlit corner of the lot. The officer lit the area with a spotlight and gave a verbal challenge. Both dropped the materials and ran. The officer recovered everything, then called police and site management. An inventory check came back complete.
Construction site. On a scheduled round, the officer found a storage container forced open and a person pulling out rolls of copper wire. The officer called police, held visual contact from a safe distance, and fed updates to dispatch. Responding officers arrived and made an arrest. The copper went back to site management.
Vacant building. Two people were prying at a boarded rear window. The officer called dispatch and police, kept watch from cover, and ran the patrol vehicle’s lights. Both left before getting in. A later check found minor damage to the window covering and no entry. The officer secured the site and notified the owner.
Distribution warehouse. After hours, an unauthorized vehicle sat near the loading docks while a person tried a secured storage area by the dock doors. The officer called dispatch and the site supervisor, identified himself, and directed the person off the restricted area. The person left. A dock-and-gate check found no forced entry, damage, or missing inventory.
That documented record is the point. It is what holds up with an insurer or in a dispute later, and it is the difference between “we think a guard drove by” and a timestamped log of exactly what happened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you require a long-term contract?
No. We run weekly, month-to-month, short-term, and long-term, set to the job. The “you must sign for a year” line is a myth.
How fast can you start?
In most cases, the same day. The first call leads to a free proposal, and for some sites a quick site assessment before deployment.
Are you licensed, and how do I verify it?
Yes. Texas DPS license B07315701, active since 2018. Check it yourself on the state’s TOPS public license search by number or company name.
What’s the difference between armed and unarmed officers?
Unarmed officers handle deterrence, patrol, access control, and observe-and-report. Armed Level III officers add firearm-level presence for cash handling, high-value assets, or a specific threat. Both work inside the same citizen-authority limits.
Do you offer event security, fire watch, K-9, or residential service?
No. We are commercial-only and do not run event, fire watch, K-9, alarm response, or parking enforcement. That focus is why our officers know commercial posts well.
Are your officers background-checked?
Yes. Fingerprint-based criminal background screening, drug testing, reference checks, and an in-person interview, before any officer is deployed.
Do you have Spanish-speaking officers?
Yes. Bilingual English and Spanish officers work across the metro, and clients call this out often for overnight coverage.
How do you prove the patrols actually happen?
GPS guard-tour tracking, documented rounds, real-time incident reports, and supervisor check-ins. You get the activity record and the incident reports.
Get a fixed proposal for your Houston site
Tell us the site, the hours, and the risk, and you get a straight proposal: the officer type, the coverage, and the price, with the certificate of insurance the same day. No long-term lock-in, and a license you can verify before you ever sign.