Disclaimer
Hey–I’m Jeremy. I have a decade of experience in the private security industry and am the owner of CAPN Security Services, a boutique security firm in WA. Of course I started a blog to promote my own company, but the information and opinions I’m sharing are genuinely an attempt to help small business owners/managers. I’ll occasionally reference CAPN in this post, but only in circumstances where I legitimately think that reference is useful to the reader. This blog post is designed to help you make an informed decision, whether or not that involves CAPN.
Let’s dive into it.
Introduction
Are you looking to hire a security company for your apartment building? Or replace an existing one? This article is for you. I’ll help you figure out what sort of security contract you want, how to solicit bids, and how to evaluate those bids.
This post is written to be extremely detailed and thorough, in ways other security articles are not. You don’t have to read cover to cover. I clearly labeled each section so you can find the information that’s relevant to you and skim/ignore everything else.
So, with no further ado...
What Security Services are Available for Apartment Buildings?
Security services for apartments can be broken down into patrol services, camera monitoring services, and onsite services.
Patrol services involve an officer coming to your property a set number of times a night, and checking a number of predetermined areas. These areas can include parking spots, stairwells, common areas, and vacant units.
Camera monitoring services involve someone remotely watching your cameras during set hours, remotely deterring threats using spotlights, sirens, and voice commands, and dispatching police officers as required. Some camera monitoring services include installation and support from local security officers, but this is a niche offering. CAPN is the only company I know of who does this.
Onsite services involve hiring a full-time officer to work on your property. This officer will conduct frequent patrols and can serve as a concierge for your residents.
How Can I Choose What Service is Best for Me?
There are two primary factors to determine the right security solution for you:
Budget
What Problems You’re Trying to Solve
While I’m personally in favor of figuring out what problems you want to solve and work backwards, I recognize that budgets are often fixed. So we’ll start with that.
What Is Your Budget?
Is Your Budget <$3000/Month?
Is your budget less than $3000 a month? You will be looking for a security patrol, a security camera monitoring service, or some combination thereof. A patrol service usually costs between $600 and $2400, depending on frequency and detail of the patrols, and whether or not you ask for an additional service such as on-demand security calls. A camera monitoring service usually starts around $100/month, if you buy and install your own cameras.
Is Your Budget >$3000/Month?
Is your budget more than $3000 a month? You can start looking at an onsite officer. In Washington, an unarmed, onsite officer usually costs $50/hour. That means you can hire an officer 20 hours a week for around $3000/month. If you’re looking for 24/7 coverage, that cost will balloon up to $36,000 a month. If you’re looking for someone to cover 8 hours a night, that cost will be around $12,000 a month. If you want an armed officer, all those quotes will usually increase by around 30% (armed contracts usually start at $65/hour).
Hiring a Security Officer Directly
It’s worth mentioning you can hire your own security officer, not through a company, for $25-30/hour. This is what the best security companies pay their officers. While you can reduce your upfront cost by over 50%, this option often is impractical for apartment owners. This is because you have no easy way to cover vacations/sick days, you will be responsible for training, administration, and regulatory compliance, and your insurance premiums might increase.
When I provide onsite officers to my clients, my margins are extremely thin. For each contract I aim to make $5 per contracted hour. I bill clients $50/hour for an onsite officer. I turn around and pay the officer ~$30/hour. The remaining $15 is spend on officer benefits, supervision, training, equipment, security company insurance, and administrative fees.
What Are Your Problems?
I am in the business of fixing people’s problems. I much prefer to find the best solution based on the problem I’m trying to solve, rather than try to match the solution to the budget. As I mentioned previously, budgets are often fixed, which is why I led with that section, but if your budget is flexible, here is an honest opinion about what you need based on your problem set.
Parking Violations
This is a problem that’s super easy for a security patrol service to solve. They can check your lot during their patrols, and report/ticket/tow any vehicles that are violating your rules. You just need to get them on an approved list of callers for your towing company. Additionally, some security companies offer on-demand service, so residents can call whenever they spot a violation, such as someone parking in their spot.
Trespassing
Are transient people/drug users often hanging around your property? An onsite security officer is a great solution since they’re around 24/7, but a patrol service can provide a decent solution. A patrol officer will actively look for trespassers and remove them during their patrols. Often these trespassers just hang around and use drugs without committing any additional crimes, so whether they get removed immediately or just before everyone wakes up isn’t particularly consequential for an apartment building.
Another solution worth mentioning is camera monitoring. A combination of camera monitoring and a patrol service can help detect trespassers immediately as they come, and get a patrol officer onsite in a timely manner.
Squatting
Are people breaking into and squatting in empty units? A security patrol service can largely fix this problem. They can check vacant units and locks during their patrols, for an additional cost. The best companies have techniques to encourage squatters to leave, even though they often have legal protections that prevent even police from immediately getting involved.
Theft
Car theft and prowling is becoming a particularly prevalent problem for apartment properties. Additionally some of our clients have had their officers broken into. I think active camera monitors are a great solution for this problem, since neither a patrol or even onsite officer can watch everything all at once.
Problem Tenants
Do you have a resident drug dealer or known troublemaker? An onsite security officer is best, but patrol officers can offer a great solution too. The main job here is documenting all of this individuals' infractions using body cameras and reports, with the end goal of assisting you with the eviction process…or getting them arrested.
How Do I Get Security Bids?
There are three main ways to get a quote/bid from security companies to get the best service/price. These include using a bidding site, using a broker, and soliciting companies directly.
Here is how each method works, and its pros/cons.
Using a Bidding Site
Sites such as Bark,offer a quick way for you to post your job and immediately get some competing bids from the companies on that site. I actively use Bark as a business development tool. Keep in mind Bark, and sites like it, require security companies to pay to bid on your job. This means your job could be ignored by companies otherwise happy to do it. For example, if I see a contract that will make me $100 in profit, I’m unlikely to spend $25 on that lead. These sites also operate on a first come first serve basis, so you’ll just see the five companies that respond quickest, not necessarily the best fit.
Using a Broker
Brokers are a great way to find a great security company for your business, but you will pay recurrently for that service. Brokers work by entering into a contract with you at a fixed rate, and turning around and subcontracting another security company to actually do the service.
The best brokers will not only monitor and demand performance from their subcontractors, but quickly replace them when they fall short. This can be a major boon for apartment owners, since it takes time and specialized knowledge to get the best from your security company. That being said, they often charge a 10% fee, for the duration of their contract, for their service. So if you hire a patrol security broker for $2000/month, they’re probably charging you $200/month to source and manage the subcontractor. This fee may or may not be worth it to you. It’s also worth noting that you still need to audit your broker, as brokers have little incentive to force performance from their subcontractors if you aren’t forcing them to perform.
CAPN acts as a security broker for patrol contracts outside of the range we can cover locally. We bill 10% on top of our standard rate, and monitor our subcontractors using our in-house technology platform. We track their patrols, audit their reports, and ensure their contractual compliance.
Many other security companies act as brokers as well. Even AlliedUniversal, the largest security company in America, will often subcontract the work they don’t. If you reach out to companies directly, it’s worth asking if they ever subcontract work. If you’re not paying more up front, you’re paying by getting a cheaper subcontractor. There are companies that work exclusively as brokers, such as Bannerman, Fast Guard, and Freedom Security Solutions.
Reaching Out to Companies Directly
If you have the time and are willing to invest in the process, the very best solution is reaching out to each company directly. You get to create a shortlist of the best companies based on your independent research, than vet each one as you solicit their bids.
A good way to start is by searching for “(insert city) security company.” Local companies tend to provide the best service since they’re small and each contract can mean life or death for their business. Go ahead and create a list based on the websites/reviews you like best. After that, you can go ahead and add all the major national companies to that list for comparison quotes–such as AlliedUniversal and Securitas.
By reaching out to companies directly, they will take your bid the most seriously, and often assign you their most senior account manager.
How Do I Evaluate Bids/Security Companies?
You can select the best security company for your property via doing the correct research, asking the right questions, and carefully negotiating the terms of your contract.
Do Your Research Ahead of Time
What do the online reviews say? Carefully pick the reviews written by actual clients and not by disgruntled residents. One of our competing companies got a bunch of 1-star reviews from people mad about getting their improperly parked vehicles towed. While they did legitimately suck, it would not be fair to evaluate them based on the times they did the (unpopular) job they were contracted to do.
What does their website look like? Is it professional? Does it contain relevant information, or just generic information indistinguishable from other companies? How do the officers look in their photos? While it may not be fair to judge a book by its cover, if a company hasn’t even invested in making itself look good online, what else have they failed to invest in?
Ask the Right Questions
Here’s a list of questions to ask any prospective company, and a good answers for each question.
Can you provide me with a list of references?
Any worthwhile company should be able to provide you with a list of references who are apartment owners. Go ahead and call those references. These are the company’s hand selected references, so if they aren’t absolutely raving the company, it’s a red flag.
How much do you pay your officers?
Companies should be able to transparently discuss their officer pay with you. Anything under $25/hour in WA for an unarmed officer should raise red flags.
Can I see your license?
Any company should be immediately able to provide these documents for you. If you are hiring armed officers, the company must be able to provide you with the license of at least one armed officer who works for them.
Can I see your insurance?
Review the insurance limits carefully. Google the insurance carrier. Go ahead and call the insurance company, and ensure the company will be covered for properties like yours
How Do You Pick and Train Your Officers?
The best security companies will have an extensive hiring and training process they will be able to clearly articulate to you. .
How do you make sure your officers perform their duties?
Unfortunately it is common for security companies to just not do what they say they’re going to do, with you none the wiser. Good security companies will have systems for you to independently monitor the performance of their officers. If they can’t clearly explain this system to you, or the system is based on their own reports, you should avoid them.
Can we do a trial period?
I can’t speak for other companies, but I am always happy to do a trial period. As a matter of fact, almost all my contracts are billed month-to-month, as I believe in the quality of the service I provide, and will not hold up a contract to stay employed. If a company doesn’t believe in their service enough to offer you a month without further commitment, it’s probably not a good sign.
Carefully Negotiate the Terms of the Contract
Here’s a bulleted list of everything a solid security contract should have.
A clearly defined term of contract.
An insurance clause with your requirements.
A compensation clause, with the final total cost including any holiday pay or overtime clearly stated.
A specific list of services and your standards. For example the number of patrols, minimum time spent on property, and the required checks of each patrol.
A non-performance clause. Ensure you can independently audit your company’s performance, and there’s clear (financial) consequences for the company if they fall short.
Conclusion
If you made it all the way to this section, congratulations–you know more than 99% of people who hire security companies. The lack of knowledge about the security industry unfortunately creates an environment where security companies often have little incentive to outperform or genuinely fix people’s problems. By clearly outlining the security services available to you, how to solicit bids, and how to select the best bid/company, I hope to arm you with the knowledge to find the most affordable, effective security solution for your property.
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A Note From the Author
Thank you for reading all the way to the end! I wrote this all by hand, without the help of a ghostwriter or AI. I’ve been working in the private security industry for over a decade, and truly believed I couldn’t provide as much useful information unless it came directly and unfiltered from me.
If you found any of this information valuable, I’d love to hear from you. Whether you just want to chat or are actively looking for a security company, I’m always available at jeremy@capnapp.com
Respectfully,
Jeremy Kohlenberg
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