Some private security officers lack job training. In Philadelphia, a new bill could change that.

Tyrone Patterson, 67, has worked as a security guard for 21 years — but still wants job training.

When Patterson first joined the workforce, he didn’t really get “hands-on training,” he says. One area he’s most interested in getting guidance is how to engage with individuals experiencing mental health issues.

Patterson, who works at an office building on 17th and Arch Streets, also has been thinking ahead to security needs in 2026, when Philadelphia will welcome an influx of visitors for events including FIFA World Cup games and the country’s 250th birthday.

“We’re going to need a lot of guards, and we need to be trained so that we don’t embarrass Philadelphia,” he said.

Patterson is one of several security officers in the city who has received little to no recent training, according to a survey from the union representing these workers in Philadelphia.

Conducted by SEIU 32BJ this spring, the survey found that about a third of security officer members say they either never received training on “how to safely de-escalate a hostile confrontation” or haven’t had a refresher in the past year.

Members surveyed are employed by security companies including Allied Universal Security Services, Colonial Security Services, GardaWorld Security, Harvard Protection Services, and Securitas. The union received 552 responses.

The survey report also highlighted the dangerous conditions of being a security guard, that the job doesn’t pay some workers enough to cover their basic needs, and that the state lacks training standards for security guards.

Sam Williamson, Pennsylvania state director and a vice president for SEIU 32BJ, said security officers end up facing challenges on the job that they don’t know how to handle, which contributes to employee turnover. A third of members have been in their positions for six months or less.

“Pretty high percentages of our members report not being trained on handling crisis situations,” Williamson said. “But on a regular basis [they] ... find themselves in a situation where they’re dealing with someone in mental health crisis, or dealing with a potentially violent incident, or dealing with really tense and dangerous situations that they don’t feel like they fully have the training and skills to be able to respond to."

The union conducted its survey ahead of collective bargaining, as their current contracts are set to expire in September. Two needs they identified: better training and better pay.

Roughly 2,500 security guards ratified their first contract with SEIU 32BJ in 2012, and today the union represents roughly 3,000 guards in Philadelphia out of an estimated 14,000 total in the city.

Their contracts are set to expire in September, and in anticipation of that, the union set out to understand how workers were doing on the job and in life, said Williamson.

Three out of five employees reported facing at least one security incident a week in Philadelphia, the survey found. One in five deal with three or more security incidents in a week.

Security incidents include assisting people experiencing mental health issues, handling drunken behavior, or searching hospital patients for drugs or weapons who might be uncooperative, according to the report.

Half of those surveyed said they had faced “dangerous situations” in the last year, like an active confrontation.

Pennsylvania doesn’t require its security guards to undergo training requirements for unarmed positions. Armed guards are required to complete 40 hours of training.

That could soon change.

» READ MORE: In Pa., private security companies make their own rules. Some say they’re above the law.

This month, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas introduced legislation that would mandate training for security officers in Philadelphia.

“We want our private security officers to be trained in emergency response, de-escalation, first aid, mental health, and the important issues we have seen arise in moments of conflict,” Thomas said in a statement.

“Philadelphia’s workforce must be prepared, professional, and protected — this bill takes these goals and turns them into a mandate,” Thomas said.

Under the new bill, security officers would be required to receive at least 40 hours of training within 90 days of being hired and eight hours of additional training each year.

Required training topics also would include threat identification, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness,​ and mental health issues.

The bill would require employers to pay workers for training time, and the training itself would be at no cost to employees.

This month, the city also announced that it would invest $250,000 to launch a development program for 200 Center City security guards.

“This initiative is designed to equip officers with the knowledge, skills, and credentials they need to excel in their current roles while positioning them for long-term career growth in the security industry,” said Carol de Fries, executive director for the city’s Municipal College and Workforce Programming in a statement.

The program’s curriculum will include conflict resolution, CPR, and emergency situations.

Stephanie Gibson, 42, a security officer with the union who works in Center City, says she has received adequate training for her work and recently was certified for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Still, she wants others in her field to have those resources, too.

“If I want to pick up another shift at another site, and I’m not properly trained … I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” she said.

Gibson typically works six days a week and gets about four hours of sleep between her two security guard jobs. As her union starts bargaining a new contract, she’s hoping for higher wages so she can spend more time with her children.

“My kids literally told me this morning we don’t see you. You leave before we wake up. You come home, and we’re asleep,” she said.

In the union’s survey, several workers reported skipping meals or forgoing some groceries or paying rent or a mortgage late or not being able to pay it at all.

Some of Philadelphia’s security officers made $8 or $9 an hour and had no health benefits before they unionized with 32BJ in 2012, Williamson said. Those now in the union make at least $16.25 an hour, but Williamson said, “Wages are still not what they need to be in order for workers to be able to actually thrive in the city of Philadelphia.”

In Pennsylvania, as of February, an adult without children needs to make $22.91 per hour to cover their basic needs, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s living wage calculator.

“By investing in security, the city can not only improve safety outcomes, but transform the industry into a pathway for working Philadelphians to join the city’s middle class,” reads the report.

Williamson says the union hopes to start bargaining for new contracts for their employees next month.