Locksmiths and the Government

Government locksmiths become licensed under the Security Industry Protection Act. Three important institutions associated with government locksmiths are Master Locksmiths of America, Associated Locksmiths of America, and British Locksmiths Institute.


One of the important aspects of the government locksmith's job is discretion. With a country's security at risk, any government office must be serviced only by the most trustworthy of locksmiths. The locksmith must know more than just their doors and windows; they must also know security systems, safe locks, telephone keys, drawer locks, and vehicle locks.
High priority is important for the items the government locks protect as well as for the people the locks protect and the paperwork. Any business must protect its important paperwork and investments, but government business takes on an upper level of importance.

A government locksmith is not just needed to pick locks and provide extra keys. Government locksmiths must be top experts in their field in both customer privacy and the actual work provided. The safety of these high profile clients and what they stand for, weapons, money, records, and personal items is high priority.

It is not only the government of a country that is important; it is also the government of local and state that is a concern to a government locksmith. Any level of government must be treated with special care. If the wrong things happen with local government it can have a domino effect upon other government bodies. Anytime someone can wreak havoc with documents, forms, equipment, public safety, and privileged information, the locksmith is called to upgrade security.
A locksmith for a security service provider can earn as much as $66,000 per year in California. They must have knowledge of the latest and best quality equipment and techniques to service their clients and build the best reputation for themselves.

A government locksmith must have electronic and computer skills that are updated. Their knowledge of lock and keys are not all they have to practice. They must also understand thumb print and retinal scanners, pin pads, and electronic swipe cards among other things.

Because passwords are considered a security hole, retinal scanners have taken on more importance. Retinal scanners are a form of biometric identification. They bypass passwords to move into a more complicated means of identity and security. For a retinal scanner, there is an enrollment process that captures the sample. The sample is stored in a template to be used for future authentication comparison. The template is matched against data, such as a user name or PIN.

Retinal scanning provides high accuracy, but it still meets some user resistance because of the misconception that a laser is shot into the eye. Focus on a given point is significant for accuracy, which can cause a small problem for someone with eyesight handicaps.

Other high technology advances for locksmiths to learn in a high profile field like government work are: voice recognition, iris scanning, signature verification, and facial recognition. So, as you can see, a locksmith who specializes in government work can be much more than just a lock picker and key maker.