Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Purpose
locksmith operators and vendors, provide applicable legal statutes, and posit a new enforcement
paradigm that could be employed in which to combat criminal activity. The information
presented hereafter is intended to provide the reader sufficient prima facie evidence that there is
a criminal element afoot in large cities in Texas with individuals and businesses conducting
locksmith activity without the mandatory licensing and proposes a way to help mitigate this
Problem Statement
There have been several incidents involving people, acting alone or as part of a business,
activities, and issuing a bill for these activities. These incidents are criminal in nature and are
not victimless because the consumer who is defrauded through deceptive trade practices are
paying for professional services when, in fact, these “locksmiths” may not have any skills, have
not undergone the mandated training or background investigations, and are not part of a
legitimate business.
One such example is an adult female who called a person who advertised himself as a
professional locksmith in the phone book to replace all the locks inside her home. The person
arrived, changed the locks as requested, issued a bill for services rendered, took payment by
credit card, and departed. Shortly thereafter, the female had called another locksmith to come to
her house because none of the keys worked in the locks. Upon arrival, it was found the locks
were useless and not legitimate work was performed. In fact, the receipt issued to the
homeowner had no individual or business name, did not have the required locksmith license
LOCKSMITH INTEGRITY INITIATIVE 3
number printed, or any other identifying information. Had it not been for the fact the
homeowner paid for the services by credit card and was reported as fraud, she would not have
regular basis according to a plethora of licensed locksmiths who are bearing the frustration and
negativity of those victims affected by these criminals. This poses a clear and present danger to
public safety in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) being defrauded monetarily and
allowing people acting under the false pretense of being a licensed locksmith into their homes,
apartments, and building who might be gathering intelligence on the security measures and
layout of these structures for possible criminal activity at a later time (such as burglary, sexual
assault, robbery, etc.). Additionally, these victims may be reluctant to report these incidents to
law enforcement because they might be embarrassed or believing the crime will go unsolved.
Further, the elderly is especially prone to being victims as they may not be able to determine they
The Texas Private Security Board (PSB) (a division of the Department of Public Safety) is
the government entity which oversees licensing of locksmiths in Texas. The Texas Occupations
Code (TOC), §1702 and the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), §35 articulate the requirements
and regulations for licensing. In order to become a licensed locksmith in Texas, a person must
for at least two years as a full-time, and successfully pass the Private
B. Take a basic locksmith course, which is usually 48 hours in length, attend and
hours in length, work as a full-time employee with a locksmith shop for a one-
year period, and successfully pass the Private Security Board’s Qualified
Managers exam.
Additionally, applicants must pass a federal background check and have sufficient insurance on
their business at all times. Further, once licensed, continuing education (with certain criteria) is
Those operating without a license from the PSB are in violation of the statutes
aforementioned, but are committing crimes against persons and are negatively affecting public
safety as articulated in the Texas Penal Code (TPC). These charges include TPC §16.01
“Unlawful Use of Criminal Instrument or Mechanical Security Device”, TPC §32.22 “Criminal
Simulation”, TPC §32.42 “Deceptive Trade Practices” and TPC §32.51 “Fraudulent Use or
Enforcement Proposal
A pilot program to combat these illegal activities could be employed in one of the several
DPS Regions throughout the state, starting with Regions I (Dallas/Ft. Worth areas) and II
(Houston area). Undercover “sting” operations would be conducted by DPS troopers whereby
one trooper would pose as a homeowner or business owner, contact people claiming to be
locksmiths, have them come to the house or building, and arrest them for the appropriate
applicable charges. Prior research would be conducted before the “stings” to identify those who
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do not have a locksmith license and communication and cooperation with the local District
addition to their regular duties. For example, according to the DPS pay scale, a Trooper II
ranking is paid $7,438.64 each month for a 50 hour work week, which breaks down to $38.19
per hour. For these operations, they would be paid 1.5x this rate, or $55.79 per hour. Each
“sting” operation requires a minimum of three troopers for officer safety, evidence gathering, etc.
These operations would be five hours in length, bringing the estimated man-power cost to
$836.85 per operation. In addition to the man-power cost, meal costs would be reimbursed to
each trooper for each operation at the maximum amount of $25, so $75 total each operation.
Also, undercover vehicles need to be utilized, which could be state-owned or privately rented; if
they are rented, there would be an associated cost as well, estimated to be approximately $75
each operation. For the initial pilot program in the next fiscal year, $300,000 is being requested
to conduct these undercover operations in Region I and Region II ($150,000 for each region).
These operations would be developed with the assistance of the Texas Attorney General,
DPS administrators, and local District Attorney Offices similar to other undercover operations
currently in place throughout the state. The program success would be measured and analyzed
through legitimate statistical tests, both quantitative and qualitative. If the program is shown to
be successful to improve public safety and reduce or prevent these illegal activities, then it is
reasonable that more money may be requested in future fiscal years to expand operations to other
Conclusion
LOCKSMITH INTEGRITY INITIATIVE 6
There is a clear and present danger to citizens throughout Texas which are negatively
affecting public safety by people performing locksmith activities without a license, defrauding
citizens, and allowing them access to homes, apartments, and buildings for the purpose of
gathering intelligence on security measures and getting paid for services they are neither
competent nor licensed to perform. Without intervention from Texas peace officers, these
crimes will continue, knowing there are some members of society that will either not know they
were defrauded or be embarrassed to report being a victim of crime. Currently, the frequency of
these illegal activities is unknown and more research needs to be conducted. However, through
the implementation of this pilot program, it is expected that a positive impact can be affected on