Eight days ago, a mob breached the United States Capitol. Five people died. Lawmakers hid under desks. The National Guard, which wasn’t deployed in time for January 6, is now flooding Washington ahead of the Biden inauguration on January 20. And across the country, every federal building, every state capitol, and every government facility is reassessing what “secure” actually means.
Memphis is no exception. If you work in private security and you haven’t gotten a call about government facility protection this week, you will.
The Clifford Davis Federal Building
The Clifford Davis Federal Building on South Main Street in downtown Memphis houses federal courts, the U.S. Attorney’s office, and several other agencies. It’s the most prominent federal facility in the city, sitting a few blocks from Beale Street in an area that sees heavy foot traffic.
Within 48 hours of the Capitol breach, security at Clifford Davis visibly changed. Federal Protective Service officers increased their presence at entry points. Vehicle barriers that had been in a default position were repositioned. Sources familiar with the building say internal security protocols were elevated to a heightened alert status that typically gets reserved for specific threat intelligence, not general precaution.
The same pattern played out at federal buildings across Tennessee. The Howard H. Baker Jr. Federal Courthouse in Knoxville, the Estes Kefauver Federal Building in Nashville, and smaller federal offices throughout the state all tightened access.
For private security companies, this matters because federal buildings don’t operate in isolation. The businesses, parking structures, and retail spaces surrounding federal facilities often rely on their own security. When the threat level at a federal building goes up, the property manager next door starts asking questions about their own exposure.
Tennessee’s Capitol on Alert
In Nashville, the Tennessee State Capitol and the surrounding legislative complex have been a focus of concern since January 6. Governor Bill Lee activated members of the Tennessee National Guard to supplement Capitol security ahead of planned protests. The Tennessee Highway Patrol increased its visible presence around Legislative Plaza.
FBI field offices, including the Memphis division, issued bulletins warning of potential armed protests at all 50 state capitols between January 16 and 20. Whether those protests materialize in Nashville or anywhere else in Tennessee remains to be seen. What’s already happened is a wave of spending on security that would have been unthinkable two weeks ago.
State officials don’t talk publicly about security budgets in real time, and they shouldn’t. What I can tell you from conversations with people in the Tennessee security industry is that phone calls are happening. Contracts that were being discussed casually in December are being signed in January. The urgency is real.
Private Security Gets the Call
Government facilities at every level, from federal courthouses to county office buildings, use a mix of in-house security personnel and private contractors. The Federal Protective Service handles the interior of federal buildings, but perimeter security, parking lot patrols, and adjacent property protection often fall to private firms.
In Memphis, several security companies have existing relationships with government agencies through contracts managed by the General Services Administration. Those companies are in the best position to pick up additional work right now. Breaking into government contracting isn’t quick. The vetting process, insurance requirements, and clearance protocols take months. Firms that already hold GSA schedules or have completed the necessary background checks can respond immediately. Everyone else is watching from the outside.
The inauguration is six days away. Washington will have 25,000 National Guard troops and thousands of federal law enforcement officers deployed. The security apparatus around the Capitol will be the largest since 9/11. That concentration of resources in D.C. creates a secondary effect: federal agencies in other cities can’t easily pull reinforcements from Washington. They’re relying more heavily on local resources, including private security.
Political Volatility as a Market Force
This is the part of the conversation that makes some people uncomfortable, so I’ll say it plainly. Political instability creates demand for security services. It has always been this way. After 9/11, the private security industry grew faster than at any point in its history. After the social unrest in the summer of 2020, security companies in Memphis saw a spike in requests that lasted months.
January 6 is different from those events in some ways, similar in others. The common thread is that when people feel unsafe, when institutions seem fragile, when the news shows violence at places that are supposed to be secure, the phone rings at security companies. That’s not a political statement. It’s a market observation.
Memphis has already been operating in a heightened security environment because of the 2020 crime surge. Layer political volatility on top of that, and you have business owners, property managers, and government officials all reaching the same conclusion at the same time: we need more security, and we need it now.
The Guard Question
Tennessee Governor Lee’s activation of National Guard members for Capitol security raises a question that comes up every time the Guard deploys domestically. How long will they stay? And what happens when they leave?
Guard deployments are expensive, temporary, and politically visible. They work well as a show of force during a specific threat window. The inauguration will pass. The immediate threat of armed protests will fade or won’t. Either way, the Guard goes home eventually.
When that happens, the underlying security needs don’t disappear. Government buildings still need protection. The federal courthouse in Memphis still sits on a busy downtown street. County buildings, municipal offices, and legislative facilities across Tennessee still need perimeter security, access control, and threat assessment.
Private security fills that gap. It always has. The companies that invest in government-grade training, that maintain proper insurance coverage, and that build relationships with facility managers during calm times are the ones that get the contracts during crises. The ones that show up cold-calling during an emergency usually get turned away.
What Memphis Security Professionals Should Be Doing Right Now
If you’re running a security company in Memphis or managing security for a commercial property near a government facility, there are practical steps to take this week.
Review your proximity to federal and state buildings. The Clifford Davis building downtown, the Social Security Administration offices on Poplar, the VA Medical Center on Jefferson, the IRS office on Getwell Road. Properties near any of these may face spillover security concerns if protests or incidents occur.
Talk to your clients about inauguration week. January 18 through 20 represents the highest-threat window. Even if nothing happens in Memphis, clients appreciate being told that you’ve thought about it and have a plan.
Check your guard training records. If you’re going to pitch government-adjacent work, your officers need current certifications. TDCI registration must be active. Armed guards need current firearms qualifications. Documentation that was fine for a retail contract won’t cut it for government work.
Connect with local law enforcement. MPD and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will be monitoring protest activity and can share relevant threat intelligence with licensed security providers. That relationship matters more this week than most weeks.
What Comes Next
The inauguration will happen. The National Guard will eventually stand down. The barricades around the Tennessee Capitol will come down. The immediate crisis will pass.
What won’t pass is the realization that government buildings are vulnerable, that political violence is possible in places people thought were safe, and that the line between “that could never happen here” and “we need security yesterday” is thinner than anyone believed on January 5.
Memphis security companies that understand this shift, that build the capability to serve government clients, and that invest in the training and clearances required, will find opportunities that didn’t exist a month ago. The rest will watch those contracts go to firms that were already prepared.
January 6 changed a lot of things. For the security industry in Memphis and across Tennessee, it changed the math on what counts as a credible threat. That math isn’t going back to where it was.