How to verify an Illinois security or private detective license

To verify an Illinois security or private detective license, ask the firm for its agency license number and look it up through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which runs a free public license search. It takes a few minutes and it is one of the most useful things you can do before hiring anyone. A firm that cannot produce a number has answered your question.

What Illinois actually licenses

People assume there is one security license. There are several, and they cover different things.

• Private Security Contractor Agency. The license a firm needs to provide security officers and protective services. It is held by the agency.
• Private Detective Agency. A separate license covering investigative work. A firm providing both security officers and investigations needs both, and plenty of firms hold only one.
• Permanent Employee Registration Card. Held by the individual employee. Anyone working unarmed for a licensed agency needs a valid card.
• Firearm credentials. Armed personnel carry under the credentials that apply to them and to the jurisdiction, such as state security licensing and firearm qualification, or federal LEOSA qualification for qualified current and retired law enforcement officers.

The distinction matters because the answer to "are you licensed" can be technically true and still not cover the work you are buying. A detective agency license does not authorize a firm to post security officers, and a security contractor license does not authorize investigations. A firm quoting you armed coverage needs the agency license and personnel who individually hold the firearm credentials.

How to look it up

IDFPR publishes a license lookup that is open to the public and free. Search by the license number the firm gives you, or by the business name if you do not have a number yet. What you want to see is the license type matching the work, a status of active, and a name matching the entity you would actually be contracting with.

That last point catches more problems than the others. A firm may market under one name and hold its license under another. That is not automatically a concern, but the entity on the license should be the entity on your contract and your certificate of insurance, and if it is not, ask why before you sign.

What to ask before you hire

• What is your agency license number, and which license type is it?
• If the work involves both security officers and investigations, do you hold both licenses?
• Are the specific people assigned to me registered, and if armed, individually qualified?
• Who is the licensed entity on the contract?

Clear answers are a good sign. Evasive ones are the whole answer.

What a clean license does not tell you

Verification is a floor, not a recommendation. A current license establishes that a firm has met the state's baseline and stayed in good standing. It says nothing about whether the people assigned to you have done work like yours or whether the firm plans before it deploys.

Check the license first because it is fast and it eliminates the worst options. Then ask the harder questions about who specifically will do the work and how they think about it.

Ours

TB Defense holds Illinois Private Security Contractor Agency license No. 122-001362 and Private Detective Agency license No. 117-001769. Both numbers are at the bottom of every page on this site, and you can look them up the same way you would check anyone else.

TB Defense is based in Chicago and led by a Chicago Police officer with 20 years of service, with security and investigative work that reaches locally, nationally, and internationally. Get protected.

Common questions

How do I check if an Illinois security company is licensed?

Ask for the agency license number and search it through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's free public license lookup. Confirm the license type matches the work, the status is active, and the licensed entity matches the entity on your contract.

What is the difference between a Private Security Contractor Agency and a Private Detective Agency license in Illinois?

They are separate licenses covering different work. A Private Security Contractor Agency license covers security officers and protective services. A Private Detective Agency license covers investigative work. A firm offering both needs both.

What credentials does an armed security officer need in Illinois?

Armed personnel carry under the credentials that apply to them and to the jurisdiction, such as state security licensing and firearm qualification, or federal LEOSA qualification for qualified current and retired law enforcement officers. Ask any firm quoting armed coverage which credentials its assigned personnel hold.