After United Healthcare and lawmaker shootings, state agency warns of unlicensed private security
Minnesota warns of unlicensed private security
The agency regulating and licensing private security – Minnesota’s Board of Private Detectives and Protective Agent Services – is cautioning those interested in hiring personal private security after a pair of deadly attacks on high-profile figures in the state.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Board of Private Detectives and Protective Agent Services, the agency regulating and licensing private security, is cautioning those interested in hiring personal private security after a pair of deadly attacks on high-profile figures in the state. The Board is urging the hiring of licensed professionals who have undergone background checks. The FOX 9 Investigators previously exposed unlicensed security firms operating in Minnesota after George Floyd’s murder led to widespread unrest.
Minnesota law requires license for private security work
What we know:
The Minnesota Board of Private Detectives and Protective Agent Services, the agency regulating and licensing private security, is cautioning those interested in hiring personal, private security after a pair of deadly attacks on high-profile figures in the state. The Board is urging the hiring of licensed professionals who have undergone background checks.
"The problem of unlicensed security has been an issue that we have dealt with for a number of years. People who either don't know or don't care that it requires a license to perform that service in Minnesota," said Rick Hodsdon, chair of the Board.
Hodsdon explained that in December, there were a significant number of people and security firms seeking work in Minnesota following the deadly, high-profile attack on United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan.
He said many of the operations could not legally operate in Minnesota because they had not passed the background check and training requirements mandated by state law. He anticipates a similar response to the political assassination of House DFL leader Melissa Hortman and her husband as well as the shootings at the Champlin home of state Senator John Hoffman and his wife.
What they're saying:
"When there's a large, catastrophic incident such as political assassinations, or we saw the same phenomenon when a Minnesota CEO was gunned down and murdered. This causes, rightfully so, many high-profile individuals, whether they are in business or politics or wealthy, to have, at least for a while, a concern about their personal safety and, for many, even more importantly, that of their families."
Hodsdon explained that a licensed firm and its employees must pass criminal history background checks, have basic training, and carry the required levels of liability insurance and bonds.
"You know they have passed a background check, that they're not criminals," Hodsdon told the FOX 9 Investigators. "You know that they are insured, that they have had basic training. And if the license holders themselves, you know that literally, they have years of experience in the industry."
It is a gross misdemeanor to perform private security work without a license in the state of Minnesota, punishable by up to one year in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.
Hodsdon said that properly licensed firms will issue credentials to all employees, who are required to display the ID card on demand when they are working. He also points out that no licensed firm may use terms, badges, or labels that make it appear to be a public safety or law enforcement officer after the alleged gunman in the shootings of the Hortmans and Hoffmans disguised himself as a police officer.
"Most security officers are not armed, but some are," Hodsdon said. "And for them to be carrying firearms without proper training and vetting, we do not like to tell horror stories of the bad things that happened. Our goal is to prevent horror stories and the bad things from ever happening in the first place. That is why we do the licensing."
Security guard at JFK Inernational Airport. (Photo by James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Unlicensed security work during 2020 riots
The backstory:
The FOX 9 Investigators previously reported on unlicensed private security personnel taking advantage of the vulnerabilities and the fear during the rioting and looting that followed the 2020 police murder of George Floyd. At the time, the Minnesota Board of Private Detectives and Protective Agent Services identified at least 14 unlicensed companies that were conducting private security during the unrest. A list that included Derrick Banks and his company, International Recovery Agency.
Banks told the FOX 9 Investigators at the time that he was a security subcontractor who protected a national news crew outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct when it was set on fire.
"I just tell the truth; I am not licensed. I’m not going to lie about it," Banks explained. "I do security, it’s just more like you come in and ask me to do a favor deal."
Some of the security providers were out-of-state companies, advertising on Craigslist and Facebook. Others were local like David Sodegren of Executive Protection Global, who posted pictures of himself guarding Thurston Jewelers, which had been looted. He said he fired his weapon to scare off looters. He also had a felony weapons conviction on his record from years before.
Nearly 15,000 private security and investigative professionals in MN
Why you should care:
According to data from the Minnesota Board of Private Detectives and Protective Agent Services, there are approximately 14,600 security and investigative professionals currently working in Minnesota.
Under state law, a private security officer must either have an individual license, or work for a company that holds a license, and is responsible for training and background checks.
The list of state-licensed firms is publicly available and can be found here.
"We do have local officials who have had security concerns, whether those are sometimes episodic, sometimes longer-term," said Hodsdon. "And now again…we see more and more… federal officials, senators, representatives, more and more considering security issues for their longer-term situations. Unfortunately, these risks do not seem to be going away."