In the last decade, quality performance through training has become a consumer expectation for security officers, and companies are being driven by market forces and fears of legal liability to increase training even without government mandates. Guard service providers are responding by sponsoring contract employees through programs under the aegis of security associations and institutions. Although the basic core curriculum topics remain the foundation of most security programs, there is also an increasing need for flexibility in course content to accommodate specific business sectors such as hospital, retail, and public venue security. The concept of training standards for security officers apparently has the support of most security professionals. The debate centers on the specifics of such standards. Recently, States such as New York and Oregon have passed minimum training standards and licensing procedures for security officers. In the last decade, nearly a dozen other U.S. States have adopted State-regulated training requirements, bringing the total number with some form of regulation to 22. Eleven other States require some form of State-regulated training requirements for armed security officers only.