Legal Foundations and Statutory Authority
What the candidate must know
A security officer's authority is layered. The property owner or client grants civil authority through contract and posted rules; the state grants limited statutory powers (often through licensing acts and a private-security statute); and common-law doctrines (arrest by private person, defense of self and others, defense of property, shopkeeper's privilege) define what an officer may physically do. Know the difference between detention (brief, investigative, based on reasonable suspicion of a crime or rule violation) and arrest (taking a person into custody to answer for an offense). Know the citizen's arrest framework in your jurisdiction: typically requires a felony in fact, or a misdemeanor committed in the officer's presence, with prompt delivery to law enforcement. Trespass law, search limits, and the constitutional baseline (Fourth Amendment in the U.S.; Charter s.8 in Canada) apply to government actors, but private security can become a state actor if it acts in concert with police - a favorite exam trap.
Traps
Questions love absolutes: "security officers have the same powers as police," "an officer may search any bag on request," "detention equals arrest." None is true. Watch for questions where the officer's employer's policy is stricter than the law - policy controls conduct. Also watch scope: authority ends at the property line unless fresh pursuit or citizen's arrest applies.
Rule of thumb
Authority = source + scope + limit. Name who gave the power (client, statute, common law), where it applies (the premises), and what stops it (law, policy, human rights). If you cannot name all three, you do not have authority.