Home » Buyers Guide: Security Guard Services

Buyers Guide: Security Guard Services

Posted by Amy Hite on Oct 13, 2017

Business owners and property managers have heavily invested in security guard services. Security guards were tasked with watching over shopping centers, car dealerships, industrial properties, office space, and other commercial properties.

As remote monitoring capabilities continue to increase, the need and quantity of security guards on a commercial property decrease. Not only will on-site security cost more, but security guards also come with liability issues.

Contents

Learn about how live monitoring is a better alternative to a security guard service.

  • Security Guard Liability
  • Security Guard Costs

Security Guard Liability

Hiring Security Guards Not Always Effective
Owners of industrial sites take costly measures to protect their assets, including barbed wire fences, surveillance cameras, and hiring security guards to walk the perimeter. It is important to protect exposed assets from potential thievery that could lead to a substantial monetary loss. What can go wrong with having “boots on the ground” to protect an industrial site?

In one large city an industrial site hired security guards to protect their visible assets. After police received an anonymous tip, security guards were seen loading metal and iron into a security vehicle, and arrested four people. This is the ever-present risk of hiring security guards to guard valuable assets, but another danger also exists, which is the potential physical harm of an officer. In the same article mentioned above, another incident occurred involving hired security guards, but instead of being the source of the problem, they were victims, having been threatened with a firearm and locked inside of a bathroom. Click here to read the article.

A New Age Of Safe Security Guard Guidelines
Taking these security guard guidelines to heart, I set out as an observant security guard, the best I could be. But I quickly realized that regardless the site I was protecting, human weakness always interfered with my ability to maintain excellence. As a security supervisor, I learned that human frailties within my own officers led to many financial losses for clients. Whether it was a quick bathroom break, lunch break, fatigue, or just not wanting to work, problems arose through natural human error and weakness; if only there remained a better solution. Click here to read the article.

Security Guard Services & Technology Need to Improve, According to MSU Industry Research
An article on academic research from Michigan State University says the security guard industry is “plagued by inadequate training and standards”, despite doubling in size to 1.1 million guards since 1980 and outnumbering police officers.

It sounds like a market ready for technology innovation like the virtual surveillance service from Stealth Monitoring with proactive live monitoring that provides trained staff, superior property coverage and crime and theft prevention, and significant cost savings. Click here to read the article.

Security Guard Costs

Remote Virtual Video Surveillance for Security Guards
If you own an industrial property or office building, demonstrating that you’re proactively keeping your property safe from crime can help you attract tenants. Virtual video surveillance for security guards to supplement or reduce your guards is a critical safety step and key competitive advantage that will help your properties stand out.

Virtual video surveillance enables remote security guards where a video service provider can watch your property’s video camera system remotely from their control center. Trained monitors can call your security guards or police to alert them to suspicious behavior or live crime. Click here to read the article.

The guard industry is a multibillion dollar industry, and it is just a matter of time before technology supplements or replaces a lot of that labor expense. While on-site guards may be the most traditional form of security used to protect properties from theft or vandalism, many businesses are benefiting from utilizing a remote live video monitoring service like Stealth Monitoring. Three major differences are detailed in the article here.