A property manager on Poplar Avenue hired a security company last fall based on a handshake and a low hourly rate. Three months later, she discovered the company’s state license had lapsed, the guard working her lobby had an outstanding warrant, and the “insurance certificate” they’d provided listed a policy that had been cancelled six months prior.
She’s now named in a lawsuit after that guard confronted a tenant’s visitor and the situation turned physical.
I wish her story were rare. It isn’t. Memphis has dozens of security companies operating at any given time. Some are excellent. Some are dangerous. Telling them apart requires asking specific questions and verifying the answers independently. This guide will show you how.
Start with TDCI Verification
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance licenses every private security company operating in this state under T.C.A. 62-35-101. If a company doesn’t have a current TDCI license, they’re operating illegally and you’re exposed.
Verification takes five minutes. The TDCI website maintains a searchable database of licensed security companies. Enter the company name. Confirm their license is active, not expired, not suspended. Note the license number.
While you’re at the TDCI site, check whether the individual guards assigned to your account hold proper registrations. Armed guards need specific armed officer registration. Unarmed guards need unarmed registration. A company can hold a valid company license while deploying unregistered guards, that’s a violation, and it happens more often than the industry wants to admit.
Don’t accept a company’s claim that they’re licensed. Verify it yourself. The ones who are legitimate won’t mind. The ones who bristle at verification are telling you something.
Insurance: What to Demand and How to Verify
Every security company should carry general liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and, for armed services, professional liability coverage. Minimum acceptable general liability is $1 million per occurrence. Many institutional clients require $2 million or more.
Request a certificate of insurance. Then call the insurance company listed on the certificate and confirm the policy is active. I’ve seen certificates with accurate-looking policy numbers attached to policies that expired months ago. Forged certificates are disturbingly easy to produce.
Workers’ compensation coverage protects you if a guard is injured on your property. Without it, you could face claims for medical bills and lost wages. Tennessee requires workers’ compensation for employers with five or more employees, but some small security companies try to classify guards as independent contractors to avoid the requirement. That classification is almost always improper for security guards, and it leaves you vulnerable.
Ask specifically: “Are your officers W-2 employees or 1099 contractors?” If the answer is 1099, proceed with extreme caution. The IRS and the Tennessee Department of Labor take misclassification seriously, and the liability chain extends to client companies in some circumstances.
Training Standards: Beyond the Minimum
Tennessee requires 16 hours of training for unarmed guards and 48 hours for armed guards. These are minimums established by law. They’re not adequate for many security environments.
When evaluating a company, ask these questions:
“What training do your officers receive beyond the state minimum?” Good companies provide additional training in customer service, de-escalation techniques, site-specific procedures, emergency response, and report writing. Great companies provide ongoing training: quarterly refreshers, annual scenario exercises, updated legal briefings.
“Who conducts your training?” Some companies use experienced in-house trainers. Others send new hires to the cheapest third-party training mill they can find. Ask about trainer qualifications and experience.
“Can I review your training curriculum?” A company confident in their training program will share it. A company that treats their curriculum as proprietary or gets evasive about content likely doesn’t have much to show.
“What’s your firearms requalification schedule?” Tennessee requires annual requalification for armed guards. Some companies require semi-annual or quarterly qualification. More frequent shooting means more proficient officers. It also costs the company more money, which is why cheap firms stick to the annual minimum.
I’ve toured training facilities at Phelps Security on Park Avenue and at several other Memphis firms. The differences are stark. One company had a dedicated classroom with projector equipment, role-playing areas, and a relationship with a local range for firearms work. Another company’s “training facility” was a folding table in a storage unit.
Response Times and Accountability
If you’re hiring patrol services, ask about guaranteed response times. How quickly will a guard respond if your alarm goes off at 2 AM? What’s the maximum patrol interval, how long between visits to your property?
Get these numbers in writing. Then test them. Don’t tell the security company you’re testing. Just observe. Note when the patrol car shows up. Note how long the guard stays. Note whether they actually walk the property or sit in the car for five minutes and leave.
I’ve recommended this to business owners for years. About half the time, the observed performance matches the contractual promise. The other half is… educational.
Reporting is equally important. What kind of reports will you receive? Daily activity logs? Incident reports? Monthly summaries? Electronic reports with timestamps and GPS verification? Or handwritten notes on notebook paper faxed over on Monday?
Modern security companies use mobile reporting platforms that generate digital reports with photos, GPS coordinates, and timestamps. The guard scans a checkpoint tag at your location, their phone logs the time and position, and you get a report in your email. If a company isn’t using digital reporting in 2018, ask why.
The Right Questions to Ask References
Every company will give you references. No company gives references they expect to speak negatively about them. That’s fine. The questions you ask matter more than who you’re asking.
Skip “Are you satisfied with the service?” Everyone says yes to that. Instead try:
“Have you ever had a guard no-show? How did the company handle it?” No-shows happen in this industry. What separates good companies from bad ones is how they respond. A company that sends a replacement within an hour has depth. A company that apologizes and leaves your property uncovered doesn’t.
“Has a guard ever been involved in an incident on your property? What happened?” You’re not expecting zero incidents. You’re looking for professional handling. Did the company investigate? Did they communicate transparently? Did they take corrective action?
“Have you ever disputed an invoice? How was it resolved?” Billing accuracy and willingness to correct errors reveal a company’s back-office professionalism.
“If you had to change one thing about the service, what would it be?” This question invites honest feedback without demanding negativity. The answer tells you where the company’s weaknesses are.
Call at least three references. And then find one or two clients they didn’t list as references. Search for the company on BBB, Google reviews, and industry forums. The unfiltered feedback is more useful than the curated reference list.
Red Flags That Should Kill a Deal
Over the years, I’ve catalogued patterns that predict poor security service. Any one of these should give you serious pause. Two or more should end the conversation.
Pricing dramatically below market. If the average armed guard rate in Memphis is $18-22 per hour and a company quotes you $13, something is wrong. They’re cutting corners on pay, training, insurance, or all three. Underpaid guards are unreliable guards. They’ll leave for a better offer mid-contract.
No written contract or vague contract terms. Professional security companies provide detailed contracts specifying services, hours, post orders, insurance coverage, termination clauses, and billing terms. “We’ll work it out as we go” is not a contract.
Reluctance to provide TDCI license numbers. Instant disqualification.
High turnover at your post. A new face every week means the company can’t retain employees. Constant rotation means no guard knows your property, your tenants, or your vulnerabilities. You lose the relationship-based security that makes guard services effective.
The owner is also the only guard. One-person security companies exist in Memphis. Some are former law enforcement professionals doing quality work. Others are undercapitalized operations that collapse when the owner gets sick. Ask about organizational depth and backup staffing.
No post orders or site-specific documentation. A company should create detailed post orders for your location: what to check, when to check it, who to call, where to patrol, how to handle specific scenarios. Generic “walk around and look for stuff” doesn’t cut it.
Structuring the Contract
A few contract provisions protect you.
30-day termination clause. Don’t get locked into 12-month contracts without an out. Sixty days is acceptable. Ninety days is pushing it. Any company that demands a year-long commitment with no cancellation option is worried about service quality driving you away.
Performance benchmarks. Specify what adequate service looks like. Patrol frequency. Response times. Reporting standards. Guard qualifications. Attach consequences to failures. Fee reductions, not sternly worded emails.
Guard approval rights. You should have the ability to reject specific guards assigned to your property. If a guard is unprofessional, poorly groomed, rude to tenants, or asleep on post, you need the contractual authority to request a replacement.
Insurance maintenance clause. The contract should require the company to maintain specified insurance coverage throughout the term and notify you immediately of any lapse or cancellation.
Making the Decision
Get three proposals. Review each against the criteria above. Verify licenses and insurance independently. Call references and ask specific questions. Visit the company’s office if possible. The condition of their facility says something about their standards.
Then choose the company that provides the best combination of qualified personnel, professional operations, responsive management, and fair pricing. Not the cheapest. Not the most expensive. The most professional.
Your security provider protects your property, your employees, and your customers. They represent your business to everyone who walks through the door after hours. That’s worth getting right.