PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator PPO #122730 BSIS / DCA licensed PPO #122730 CA Private Patrol Operator
Summit Force Security Group logoSummit ForceSecurity Group
Coverage planning

Security guard or mobile patrol — which do I need?

Updated 2026-08-01 · 5 min read · Sacramento, CA dispatch

PPO #122730

Short answer

Choose a standing guard when something must be continuously controlled — a gate, a lobby, a retail floor, or an active people problem. Choose mobile patrol when the risk is property crime during unattended hours and you need documented deterrence rather than constant presence. Patrol costs a few hundred dollars a month; a standing post costs thousands.

Side by side

FactorStanding officerMobile patrol
What you getContinuous presence for the paid windowRandomized documented passes
Typical cost$28–$45 per officer hour$250–$1,200 / month
Best againstPeople problems, access control, live incidentsOpportunistic property crime, after-hours risk
Response timeImmediate — already on siteMinutes to next pass, or dispatched on alarm
DocumentationDaily activity reportCheckpoint log with photos per pass
Scales toOne site, one shiftMultiple sites across a route

Pick a standing officer when

  • Someone must verify identity at a gate, lobby, or dock during specific hours
  • You have an active tenant, customer, or trespass problem that recurs weekly
  • The property is open to the public and incidents happen during operating hours
  • An insurer, lender, or municipality requires an on-site presence
  • Retail loss during business hours is the primary problem

Pick mobile patrol when

  • The risk window is overnight, weekends, and holidays when nobody is on site
  • You are protecting equipment, materials, vehicles, or vacant space
  • You need documented deterrence at a defensible price point
  • You have several properties that can share one route
  • You want proof of coverage — checkpoints and photos — for a board, owner, or carrier

The hybrid most properties actually end up with

The common landing spot is patrol as the baseline plus a standing post during the specific window that generates incidents — a weekend night post at an apartment pool, a Friday-Saturday retail post, a gate post during construction delivery hours. That combination usually costs a fraction of full-time coverage and addresses the risk where it actually lives.

We size that with 30–60 days of incident data rather than guessing. If your reports show everything happens between 10 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Sunday, that is what you should be buying.

The services this applies to

Where we cover this

Questions we get every week

Security guard or mobile patrol — which do I need? — the follow-ups

Is mobile patrol as effective as a security guard?
For opportunistic property crime during unattended hours, randomized mobile patrol is highly effective and dramatically cheaper. For continuous access control or an active people problem, it is not a substitute — a standing officer is the correct tool.
Can I combine mobile patrol with a standing guard?
Yes, and it is the most cost-effective configuration for many properties: nightly patrol as the baseline, plus a standing post only during the hours your incident reports actually cluster.
How long does a mobile patrol pass take?
It depends on the property, but a real pass on a mid-size site is several minutes of checkpoint work, not a lap of the parking lot. Checkpoint timestamps make the dwell time visible to you.
Can one patrol route cover several of my properties?
Yes. Multi-site owners and management companies commonly share a route across properties in the same corridor, which lowers the per-property cost significantly.

Keep reading

All 12 guides

Get this priced for your property

Flat hourly or per-pass pricing, quoted in writing from our Sacramento dispatch — usually within one business day.

1-800-823-5337Get a free quote
Free site assessment

Tell us about your property

Send a few details and a supervisor will walk your site, identify the vulnerable hours, and return a written coverage plan with flat hourly pricing — no obligation.

  • Same-day response on urgent coverage requests
  • Licensed, guard-card verified, uniformed officers
  • GPS-tracked patrol reports delivered every morning
  • Short-term, event, and long-term contracts available