Pepper Spray Course: Texas Certified Tactical Academy (TCTA) is a Texas Department of Public Safety-approved and licensed training academy. In addition to our brick-and-mortar location in Round Rock/Pflugerville, Texas, we are thrilled to offer a variety of online courses.
Our newly released online Pepper Spray class is offered 100% online. You are not required to be sprayed by State or Federal law to carry it, nor are you required to be sprayed by DPS; maybe your employer does, but we do not for certification purposes.
From a safety and health concern, even the Federal government (OSHA), put out a statement that “spraying someone with O.C. (during training) is an unacceptable health risk.”
Many training academies and instructors are unaware of that and are still spraying students during training; this is why we no longer require that you be sprayed in order to attend and complete our course (due to the health risk). The fact that other schools and instructors do not know about that risk should be an indication to you that they do not conduct ongoing research into the subject matter at hand, and that their programs are outdated.
Yes, unarmed guards can carry Pepper Spray and do not need to be a Level-3 commissioned officer to do so. There is some confusion with DPS’ verbiage in a course and/or handout, but the Texas Penal Code is very clear on this and if need be, we can explain to anyone that is confused on this. TX DPS indicates on some areas that you must receive TCLOSE (police academy) training in order to carry it- not true, or that only a Lv3 security Guard can carry pepper spray it- not true according to the Texas Penal Code that we read from top to bottom under 46.01 and 46.05- fine details must be read.
Texas Penal Code 46.01 that is referenced by Texas DPS in numerous areas states in Section (14) under 46.01 states: “Chemical Dispensing Device” means a device, other than a small chemical dispenser sold commercially for personal protection, that is designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of dispensing a substance capable of causing an adverse psychological or physiological effect on a human being. *This means that they are not talking about OC (pepper spray) when they say, “other than” they are talking about something else than what is described in exact detail as a “small chemical dispenser, sold commercially, for personal protection” (which is exactly what Pepper Spray is)- so it is not illegal to carry OC they are describing anything “other than” what is allowed. Being very respectful here but DPS’ manuals, handouts, and on their new OC, cert have a slight error if reading what Texas law states and assuming unarmed citizens and unarmed security officers cannot carry Pepper Spray- they are wrong as we 100% can- the Penal Code states it.
Texas Penal Code 46.05 (3) “Chemical Dispensing Device” although the Penal Code doubles-down on that same term- 46.01 (14) already outlined “other than” what is illegal. They are doubling down on something that does not apply using their own terminology. Moreover, 46.05 (f) states “It is a defense to prosecution under this section for the possession of a chemical dispensing device that the actor is a security officer and has received training on the use of the chemical dispensing device by a training program that is: (1) provided by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; or (2) approved for the purposes described by this subsection by the Texas Private Security Board of the Department of Public Safety. – *This means you cannot be prosecuted for carrying OC under this- although OC can be carried by private citizens anyway.
(g) In Subsection (f), “security officer” (read closely right in the Penal Code) “means a commissioned security officer (armed) as defined by Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer (unarmed) registered under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code. *This is right out of the state code so again, yes you can carry OC as a non-commission officer and it is baffling why TX DPS keeps trying to slide in that you cannot on forms, memos, and even in Instructor manuals- all not true.
Moving forward,
This class is intended for unarmed security officers that have not attended the Level-3 course but want to carry Pepper Spray and Level-3 officers that may not have gotten certified elsewhere (from other schools).
Our program is not a cut-and-paste out of the DPS manual; instead, we have created a very in-depth pepper spray course that surpasses the course DPS hands to instructors.
A certificate of completion will be given to each student that takes and passes this course.
NOTE: This class is NOT designed to certify Peace Officers (Law Enforcement) for their agency. This class is also NOT designed nor intended for civilians outside of the security industry. This class is only for Security officers/Security guards, Correctional Officers, Bodyguards, etc.
Our Course Topics:
- Legal Disclaimer
- Seven False Points About O.C.
- What is O.C.?
- The Heat of O.C.
- The History of O.C.
- Factors That Effect O.C.
- Common O.C. Deployment Errors
- The Effects of O.C.
- Additional Information About O.C.
- Types of Spray
- Spray Patterns
- When Can You Use O.C.?
- General Use and Guidelines
- Decontamination
- Reporting
- Care and Maintenance
- Quiz
