Last Tuesday night, a property manager in Cordova called Memphis police to report a group of people breaking into cars at an apartment complex off Germantown Parkway. She waited 52 minutes for an officer to show up. By then, the suspects were gone and three tenants had filed complaints with her office.
That story isn’t unusual anymore. Across Shelby County, property managers are running into the same wall: MPD doesn’t have enough officers to respond quickly to the kinds of calls that make tenants feel unsafe. Car break-ins. Trespassing. Loitering. Vandalism. These aren’t homicides or armed robberies. They’re the daily quality-of-life crimes that drive people to move out of your property and leave a one-star review on their way to Collierville.
So property managers are doing what businesses across Memphis have been doing for the past two years. They’re hiring private security. And they’re learning, sometimes the hard way, that picking the right company is harder than it looks.
Why MPD Can’t Keep Up
The Memphis Police Department is short roughly 500 officers compared to its authorized strength. That number has been reported so many times it’s almost lost its shock value, and yet the effects keep getting worse. Patrol districts that should have 15 cars on a shift are running with eight or nine. Detectives carry caseloads that would have been unthinkable five years ago.
For property managers, the practical result is simple: when you call 911 for a non-emergency, you’re waiting. Average response times for Priority 3 and Priority 4 calls, the categories that cover most property crimes, have stretched past 45 minutes in many parts of the city. Some property managers I’ve talked to report waiting over an hour. A few have stopped calling altogether for anything short of a violent crime in progress.
“I can’t tell a tenant to just wait an hour while someone is trying their door handles at 2 a.m.,” said one East Memphis apartment manager who asked not to be identified because her management company hadn’t authorized her to speak publicly. “That’s not a reasonable answer.”
It’s not. And the gap between what property owners need and what MPD can provide has created a market. Private security companies in Memphis are busier than they’ve been in years.
What Property Managers Are Actually Hiring
The security needs for a 200-unit apartment complex in Midtown look different from a strip mall on Summer Avenue or an office park near Poplar and I-240. Knowing what you actually need before you start calling companies will save you time and money.
Standing guards. A uniformed officer posted at a gate, lobby, or parking lot entrance. This is the most visible deterrent and the most expensive ongoing cost. Expect to pay $18-30 per hour depending on whether the guard is armed or unarmed and which company you use. Most apartment complexes that hire standing guards only cover peak hours, typically 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., rather than paying for 24/7 coverage.
Mobile patrol. A marked security vehicle drives through your property on a set schedule, usually every 60 to 90 minutes. Cheaper than a standing guard and covers more ground. Works well for strip malls, office parks, and larger apartment communities. Rates typically run $12-20 per pass or a flat monthly fee.
Virtual monitoring. Cameras with live monitoring by an off-site team. They can issue warnings over speakers, call police, or dispatch a mobile patrol unit when they see something. This is the newest option and the one growing fastest. Monthly costs range from $500 to $2,000 depending on the number of cameras and hours of active monitoring.
Most property managers I’ve spoken with are combining two of these three options. The most common setup: mobile patrol on a regular schedule with standing guards on Friday and Saturday nights when incident reports spike.
Who’s Doing the Work in Memphis
Five companies handle the bulk of private security contracts for Memphis commercial properties. Each has strengths and weaknesses worth knowing before you sign anything.
Allied Universal is the largest security company in the United States, and their Memphis operation reflects that scale. They can staff a 20-guard contract on short notice because they have the roster to pull from. Their training programs are standardized and documented, which matters if you ever end up in court over an incident on your property. The downside is that you’re a number in a very large system. Account managers rotate. Guards rotate. The person patrolling your property this month might be at a warehouse in Olive Branch next month. Tenants notice when they see a different face every week.
Securitas runs a similar large-scale operation with a strong presence in the Memphis logistics corridor. They’re reliable for warehouse and distribution center contracts. For apartment complexes and retail properties, they’re less of a natural fit. Their Memphis guards tend to be newer to the industry, and turnover has been a consistent complaint among property managers I’ve interviewed.
Phelps Security has been in Memphis since 1960 and operates out of their Park Avenue office. They’re family-owned, which means decisions happen fast and you’re dealing with people who actually live in this city. Their guards tend to stay longer, know the neighborhoods, and build relationships with tenants. The trade-off is capacity. Phelps doesn’t have the deep bench of a national firm. If you need 15 guards staffed by next Monday, they might not be able to make it happen.
Shield of Steel is a veteran-owned operation that’s been around since 1998, working out of their office at 2682 Lamar Avenue. They’ve carved out a niche with customized security plans rather than off-the-shelf packages, and their pricing tends to undercut the nationals for comparable service. Their guards carry GPS tracking on patrols, which gives property managers real-time verification that rounds are being completed. They cover the whole state, not just Memphis. The limitation is size. Like Phelps, they’re a smaller outfit. During high-demand periods like festival season and holiday weekends, you might find their availability stretched thin.
GardaWorld rounds out the major players. They’re a Canadian-headquartered firm with a growing Memphis presence, mostly in the logistics and distribution sector. Good benefits package for their employees, which helps with retention. Their focus on industrial properties means they’re not always the best match for residential or retail work.
Five Things to Check Before You Sign a Contract
I’ve watched property managers make expensive mistakes by rushing into security contracts. Here’s what to verify before you commit.
1. Check the TDCI license. Every security company operating in Tennessee needs a license from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Every individual guard needs a registration card. Ask for both. If a company hesitates or tells you they’re “in the process” of getting licensed, walk away. You can verify licenses online through TDCI’s website in about three minutes.
2. Verify insurance. A security guard on your property is a liability. If that guard injures someone, detains someone improperly, or causes property damage, you need to know there’s insurance covering it. Ask for a certificate of insurance and make sure the limits are adequate. Most property management attorneys recommend a minimum of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate.
3. Ask about GPS tracking and patrol verification. If you’re paying for mobile patrol, you want proof that patrols are actually happening. GPS tracking on patrol vehicles and guard smartphones creates a digital record of every round. Some companies also use checkpoint systems where guards scan NFC tags at specific locations on your property. If a company can’t show you patrol verification data, that’s a red flag.
4. Require written incident reports. Every interaction a guard has with a trespasser, every suspicious vehicle they log, every medical call they respond to should be documented in a written report delivered to you within 24 hours. This protects you legally and gives you data to evaluate whether the security contract is actually working. Companies that don’t provide regular reporting aren’t worth your money.
5. Talk to their current clients. Any reputable company will give you references. Call them. Ask specific questions: How fast does the company respond when you have a problem? Do they send the same guards consistently? Have they ever missed a shift without notice? The answers will tell you more than any sales presentation.
What This Actually Costs
Budget is the question every property manager asks first and the one that has the most complicated answer. A basic mobile patrol contract for a mid-sized apartment complex in Memphis runs $1,500 to $3,000 per month. Add a standing guard for evening hours and you’re looking at $4,000 to $8,000 monthly depending on how many hours you need covered.
That sounds like a lot until you do the math on vacancy losses. If two tenants move out because they don’t feel safe, and each unit rents for $900 a month, you’ve lost $1,800 per month in revenue plus turnover costs. A security contract that keeps occupancy stable pays for itself pretty quickly.
Some property managers are splitting costs with neighboring properties. A strip mall on Poplar near Highland shares a mobile patrol contract with an office building next door. They each pay about 60% of what a solo contract would cost. It works because the patrol vehicle covers both properties on the same route.
The Hard Truth
Private security isn’t a replacement for police. A security guard can observe, report, and deter. In most cases, they can’t arrest people, conduct investigations, or respond to violent crimes the way a sworn officer can. Armed guards have more authority in certain situations, and Tennessee law gives them specific protections, but they’re still not cops.
What private security does well is fill the space between “nothing” and “waiting 45 minutes for MPD.” A visible guard presence at your property tells potential criminals that someone is watching and that there will be a response. It tells your tenants that you take their safety seriously enough to spend money on it.
That matters more in Memphis right now than it has in a long time. Property managers who figure out the right security setup for their buildings will keep tenants. Those who keep hoping MPD will catch up to demand will keep losing them.
The gap between what this city needs and what its police department can deliver isn’t closing anytime soon. Filling it is now part of the job.