OIP 3: Advanced Development for Proven Officers

Advanced Security Officer training in Washington State

OIP 3 is not orientation and it is not a licensing course. It is advanced training an Officer earns only after completing OIP 2 and passing probation. Where OIP 1 certifies and OIP 2 builds the legal, medical, and operational foundation, OIP 3 develops the human skills that separate a genuine professional from a warm body in a uniform — how to read a person, build rapport in seconds, and resolve tension long before it becomes a physical confrontation.

OIP 3 is also available to partner security companies whose Officers have already completed a comparable foundation. To discuss dates and pricing for your Team, Contact Diligence Security or call (253) 227-3565.

Written exam and passing standard

OIP 3 is assessed with a written exam that requires a score of 80% or higher to pass. The exam tests comprehension of applied psychology, professional communication, crisis intervention, and Officer safety principles, with reasonable accommodations for students whose primary language is not English.

Idealisms, universal laws, and mindset

Diligence Security Officers are taught a shared operating philosophy — Engineer, Educate, then Enforce and Ask, Tell, Make — alongside the discipline of being fair, firm, and consistent. Officers learn to identify as lifelong learners, to grow deliberately outside their comfort zone, and to manage their own state before managing anyone else's. This mindset is what allows our Team to stay calm, professional, and solution-focused under pressure.

Reading people and understanding behavior

Officers are trained to understand what drives behavior before they respond to it: how to establish a baseline, recognize when someone has deviated from it, and tell the difference between nervousness and intent. The goal is to adapt the approach to the person in front of them — an intoxicated trespasser, an anxious tenant, and a Client under pressure each require something different. The guiding principle throughout is simple — people won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Applied psychology, professional communication, and de-escalation training

Officers are trained in the mechanics of rapport — that the majority of any message is carried by body language and tone rather than the words themselves — and how to align all three under pressure. From there we develop the applied communication skill that resolves incidents without force: gaining voluntary compliance, giving clear and lawful direction, and holding a professional line while lowering the temperature of the conversation. These are the tools that let a Diligence Security Officer resolve a situation with words — the core of our commitment to protecting people, not property.

Crisis intervention training for Security Officers

OIP 3 teaches the four trauma responses — fight, flight, freeze, and fawn — and how to recognize and respond to each. Officers learn voluntary and involuntary crisis intervention, types of trauma, and grounding techniques, giving them real tools on the calls that support our 24/7 Emergency Response work. In a region where Officers routinely encounter mental-health crises and substance use, this is the difference between a humane outcome and an incident report nobody wants to write.

Life management, health, and mission preparation

An Officer who is rested, healthy, and clear-headed makes better decisions. OIP 3 covers life management as a professional skill: daily routine, sleep, diet, exercise, stretching, hygiene, financial discipline, and continuous learning — practical habits drawn in part from longevity research and the world's Blue Zones. We invest in the whole person because a prepared Officer is a dependable Officer for our Clients.

Advanced driver safety and defensive driving

Because vehicle collisions are one of the leading causes of serious injury in our line of work, OIP 3 includes a rigorous driver-safety module: vehicle maintenance and pre-trip inspection, controlling speed for road and weather conditions, eliminating distractions, signaling and predictable maneuvering, and defensive "what if" thinking. These skills protect the Officers behind the wheel of our Mobile Patrol fleet and the Clients who rely on them.

Officer safety and scenario response

OIP 3 closes where it matters most — Officer safety. Officers work through intelligence and situation reports, exfiltration planning, and realistic scenario-response drills so that when a situation cannot be de-escalated, they protect themselves and everyone around them. Officer safety is never optional.

Advancement beyond OIP 3

OIP 3 supports promotion into Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, and Supervisor roles, and it feeds our internally developed management tracks — Human Resources, Field Training Officer, Field Manager, Operations Manager, and Project Manager. See our Careers page for the full advancement path, or return to the Officer Training overview.

Further reading

• How to become a Security Officer in Washington State
• Security Guard vs. Security Officer: what's the difference?
• Verbal de-escalation skills for unarmed Security Officers