N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 19, § 170.1 – Security guard.

(a) A person described in General Business Law, section 89-f(6) is a security guard if he or she principally performs the activities of prevention, deterrence, control or enforcement.
(b) For purposes of this Part:
1. (1) prevention includes protecting persons and/or property from harm, theft, and other unlawful activity, including response to a security systems alarm;
2. (2) deterrence includes deterring, observing, detecting, and reporting unlawful or unauthorized activity;
3. (3) control includes controlling, by street or other patrol service, access to property, including employee personnel, visitors, vehicles and traffic;
4. (4) enforcement includes enforcing security policies, rules, regulations, and procedures.
(c) Principally performing shall mean:
1. (1) engaged in the functions set forth in subdivision (b) of this section for more than 50 percent of the person's regularly scheduled work hours; or
2. (2) employed to perform any or all of the above functions for any duration, with the condition of such employment being that he or she is armed with a weapon; or
3. (3) employed to perform any or all of the above functions for any duration, with the condition of such employment being that he or she wear a military style uniform or insignia, either being indicative of security guard status.
  (d) Police officers.
4. (1) When employed by a security guard company, an off-duty police officer is exempt from the registration, fingerprinting and training provisions of General Business Law, article 7-A. When employed by a security guard company, a retired or former police officer must comply with the registration, fingerprinting and training provisions of General Business Law, article 7-A.
5. (2) Before employing an off-duty police officer as a security guard, a security guard company licensed pursuant to General Business Law, article 7 shall obtain an employee statement from the off-duty police officer as required by General Business Law, section 81(2); provided, however, the off-duty police officer shall be exempt from the fingerprinting provisions of General Business Law, section 81, subdivisions (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7).
  (e) Peace officers.
  When employed by a security guard company, an off-duty peace officer must comply with the registration and fingerprinting provisions of General Business Law, article 7-A. The peace officer must also comply with the training provisions of General Business Law, section 89-n subject to that section's special exceptions for peace officers.
(f) For the purposes of General Business Law, articles 7 and 7-A, a security guard is considered to be employed by a security guard company if the security guard is not independently licensed as a private investigator or as a watch, guard or patrol agency pursuant to General Business Law, article 7, even if the security guard is treated as an independent contractor by the security guard company for Federal or State tax purposes.