Guard Card Guides · Online

Can You Get a California Guard Card Online?

Short answer

Partly. The 3-hour Power to Arrest portion can be completed online — providers offer it different ways, from self-paced e-learning to live online (at NPS we teach it live online with a real instructor). The 5-hour Appropriate Use of Force portion must be completed in person, and under SB 652 both portions must come from the same BSIS-approved provider. The rest of the process (Live Scan fingerprinting and the BSIS application) happens outside class.

What Can Be Online vs. In Person

  • Power to Arrest (3 hours) — can be online. It is lecture and legal theory, which BSIS allows in an online format. Providers deliver it different ways; at NPS it is live online with a real instructor, so you can ask questions in real time.
  • Appropriate Use of Force (5 hours) — must be in person (hands-on skills and scenarios) with a live instructor.
  • Both portions must come from the same BSIS-approved provider under SB 652.
  • Live Scan & BSIS application — done outside class regardless of how you train.

Make Sure Your Course Covers Both Portions

Under SB 652 (effective January 1, 2026), the entire 8-hour course — the online Power to Arrest portion and the in-person Appropriate Use of Force portion — must be completed and certified by a single BSIS-approved provider. Taking the online portion at one school and the in-person portion at another is not allowed: a certificate split between two providers does not meet the single-provider requirement, and BSIS can reject or invalidate it. An online-only course also can't complete your requirement on its own, since the Use of Force portion must be in person. So wherever you enroll, make sure the same provider certifies the full 8 hours — both portions — so your certificate is valid.

Our Online-Start Option

Our Priority one-on-one option lets you take the 3-hour Power to Arrest module live online and complete the 5-hour Use of Force portion in person — one provider start to finish, fully SB 652 compliant.

Related Questions

Is any part of the California guard card course online?
Yes — the 3-hour Power to Arrest portion can be completed online. Providers offer it in different formats; at NPS we teach it live online with a real instructor. The 5-hour Appropriate Use of Force portion must be completed in person.
Why can't the whole 8-hour course be online?
BSIS requires the Appropriate Use of Force training to be delivered in person because it is hands-on. The Power to Arrest portion can be online, but the full course cannot — and under SB 652 both portions must come from the same provider.
Does online training count toward my guard card?
Yes, when it meets BSIS requirements: the Power to Arrest portion can be online, the Use of Force portion must be in person, and both must come from the same BSIS-approved provider like NPS (License ATG #2995).

More questions? See our full FAQ and the step-by-step Guard Card requirements guide, or contact us. Verified against bsis.ca.gov. BSIS License ATG #2995.

The Right Way, One Provider

Start Power to Arrest online, finish Use of Force in person — fully compliant, in LA & OC.

Book the 8-Hour Course — $80