Reliable Guard & Patrol Service Inc. is a Houston security guard company that posts licensed armed and unarmed officers at commercial sites across the metro: construction, warehouses, vacant buildings, retail, and offices. The company holds Texas DPS license B07315701, active since 2018, runs about 150 officers, and has covered more than 100 sites. Every patrol is GPS-tracked and written up as an incident report the client keeps. There is no long-term contract, and the certificate of insurance goes out the same day.
What separates one Houston security company from the next
Search “local security guard companies in Houston, TX” and the results read the same. Star ratings. A license number. The Texas DPS training levels. An hourly range. A line about GPS tracking and no long-term contracts. That is the baseline, and every company clears it, so it tells you almost nothing about which one keeps your site covered next Tuesday at 3 a.m.
The things that predict reliability sit under that baseline. Are the officers W-2 employees or 1099 contractors? Can the company show you a patrol happened, or only promise it did? Does it staff your building type every day, or is your warehouse its first? What does an officer clear before a first shift? Those questions separate operators, and most comparison pages never ask them. This page walks the checks in order, then shows where Reliable Guard lands on each.
How to vet any security guard company in Houston: seven checks
Run every Houston company you consider through the same seven checks. A firm that clears all seven earns a proposal. One that dodges a question is answering it.
- Confirm the license yourself on the state portal. An active Texas DPS company license takes about two minutes to check on the TOPS public search (steps below). Reliable Guard’s number is B07315701. A lapsed or missing license becomes your liability and your insurance problem, not only the vendor’s.
- Check that officers are W-2 employees, not 1099 contractors. Texas requires anyone doing regulated guard work to be a W-2 employee of a licensed company. A firm advertising 1099 guard roles is cutting a corner that lands on you.
- Get the insurance in writing before the first shift. General liability, workers’ compensation, and commercial auto, with a certificate of insurance in hand. Reliable Guard issues the COI the same day.
- Ask how they prove a patrol happened. GPS guard-tour tracking, documented rounds, and real-time incident reports beat a promise and a random drive-by. If a company cannot show you the log, you are buying a uniform, not coverage.
- Ask what every officer clears before a first shift. Reliable Guard runs a six-point standard on each officer, on each site: license check, fingerprint background check, drug test, an in-person interview, verified references, and recurring training.
- Match the company to your building type. A firm that works construction sites and warehouses every day reads those risks faster than a generalist. Reliable Guard takes commercial posts only and turns down residential, HOA, and event work.
- Set the contract to the job, not the year. Weekly, month-to-month, short-term, or long-term should all be on the table. “You must sign for a year” is a sales tactic, not a rule.
Verify a Houston security company’s license on the TOPS portal
You do not have to take a company’s word for its license. The state keeps a public record you can search in a couple of minutes.
Open the Texas Online Private Security (TOPS) public license search, run by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Search by company name or license number. For Reliable Guard, enter B07315701 or “Reliable Guard and Patrol Service.” Check that the status reads active and carries no open issues. For an armed post, you can also confirm an individual officer holds a current Level III commission; Reliable Guard provides officer names on request. A lapsed, suspended, or missing license is a real problem for the client, because coverage from an unlicensed company can void the protection you think you are buying.
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W-2 officers, not 1099: the check most buyers skip
Texas does not allow security officers doing standard guard work to run as 1099 independent contractors. They have to be W-2 employees of a licensed company, covered by that company’s required insurance. In 2025 the state sharpened the point: House Bill 1065, effective September 1, 2025, bars security contractors from intentionally misclassifying officers as independent contractors and directs DPS to inspect employment records during audits.
The reason this matters to you is liability, not paperwork. A 1099 “guard” may not sit under the company’s workers’ compensation or general liability, which can leave you exposed if that person is hurt or causes harm on your property. Yet Houston job boards in 2026 still list 1099 guard roles. If a low bid comes in well under the rest, ask how the officers are classified before you sign. A price that only works on 1099 labor is not a bargain.
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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
What a Texas security officer can legally do
A licensed security officer in Texas has a private citizen’s authority, not police powers. That is the whole legal frame, and a good company trains to it.
Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 14.01, any person, including an officer, may make a warrantless arrest only when a felony or an offense against the public peace happens in their presence or view. For theft, Article 18.16 lets any person stop and hold someone to prevent the consequences of theft when there is reasonable ground to believe the property is stolen. A detained person is turned over to police without delay. An officer does not file charges, transport anyone, or run a jail, and force is limited to what is reasonable under the Penal Code’s self-defense and defense-of-property rules.
A Level III commissioned officer may carry a firearm on duty. That changes deterrence and the response options on a high-risk post. It does not widen arrest authority. Both officer types work inside the same citizen limits. This matters to you because an officer who oversteps that authority creates liability for the property owner, not only for the company. Training, clear post orders, and a written record are what keep a stop defensible afterward.
Armed or unarmed: which your Houston site needs
Most commercial posts are unarmed. Unarmed officers handle deterrence, access control, visitor checks, observe-and-report, and written incident reports, which covers the large majority of theft, trespass, and vandalism risk.
Armed officers make sense when a site has cash on hand, high-value or easily resold assets, a history of violent incidents, or a specific credible threat. Armed coverage costs more per hour than unarmed, so many sites run unarmed patrol with a clear escalation plan instead of paying the armed premium at every post. The right answer is per-site. A company that pushes armed coverage onto every job is selling, not assessing.
The six-point officer standard
Guard reliability is the thing clients worry about most, so it is worth knowing the bar an officer clears before deployment. Reliable Guard applies the same six checks to every officer, on every site.
An active Texas DPS registration is confirmed for the level the post requires. A fingerprint-based criminal background check is completed. Pre-assignment drug testing is done, with no exception for armed or unarmed. Each officer sits an in-person interview against company conduct and presentation standards, not just a license read. References are contacted and confirmed. And training stays current: unarmed officers complete Level II training, while armed officers requalify with firearm proficiency and six hours of continuing education at each two-year license renewal.
Who Reliable Guard is not for
Reliable Guard is not the right company for every job, and it is worth saying so before you spend time on a proposal. It takes commercial posts only: construction sites, warehouses, vacant buildings, retail and shopping centers, and offices. It does not do residential or HOA security, event security, K-9, fire watch, alarm response, or parking enforcement. If you need one of those, another company is the better call.
Proof every patrol happened
You should be able to see the activity, not take it on faith. Reliable Guard uses GPS guard-tour tracking, documented rounds, real-time incident reports, and supervisor check-ins. Here is what that looks like on a real post. The entries below come from patrol logs, with client names and addresses removed.
On a construction site, a pickup circled the lot around 2 a.m., then stopped near a gated entrance while the people inside studied the access points. The officer switched on the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and moved toward the gate. The truck left. He logged the vehicle description and notified site management. Nothing was lost.
On another job site, an officer on a scheduled round found a storage container forced open and a person pulling out rolls of copper wire. He called police, held visual contact from a safe distance, and fed updates to dispatch. Responding officers made an arrest, and the copper went back to site management.
At a distribution warehouse after hours, an unauthorized vehicle sat near the loading docks while someone 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. They left. A dock-and-gate check turned up no forced entry and nothing missing.
Every one of these was GPS-logged and written up as an incident report the client received. That record is the point. It is what holds up with an insurer, or in a dispute months later when everyone’s memory has gone soft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you require a long-term contract?
No. Terms run weekly, month-to-month, short-term, or long-term, set to the job.
How fast can you start?
Same day, in most cases.
Are you licensed, and how do I verify it?
Yes. Texas DPS license B07315701. Verify it on the TOPS public portal by number, or search “Reliable Guard and Patrol Service.”
What’s the difference between armed and unarmed officers?
Unarmed officers handle deterrence, access control, and observe-and-report, which covers most commercial risk. Armed (Level III) officers add a firearm for cash-handling, high-value, or higher-threat posts. Both work inside the same citizen-authority limits.
Do you offer event security, fire watch, K-9, or residential service?
No. Reliable Guard takes commercial posts only.
Are your officers background-checked?
Yes. Every officer clears a fingerprint background check, a drug test, license verification, an interview, and reference checks before deployment.
Do you have Spanish-speaking officers?
Yes. Bilingual English and Spanish officers work across the metro.
How do you prove the patrols actually happen?
GPS guard-tour tracking, documented rounds, and real-time incident reports you receive.
Are your officers W-2 employees or 1099?
W-2, as Texas law requires for regulated guard work.
Get a free proposal for your Houston site
Tell us your site type and coverage window, and we’ll put together a proposal, usually the same day. No long-term contract, and a certificate of insurance issued the same day.