SALT LAKE CITY — After the No Kings protest shooting over the summer and the Charlie Kirk shooting at Utah Valley University earlier this month, some people are wondering: What should you look for when hiring a security company?
"Security is one of those things that sometimes people don't put a whole lot of stock into in the beginning, particularly when it comes to budgets and financing," said Bridger Tinsley, a Utah Security Council Chairman for Centurion Security & Investigations Inc. "I think there's a larger emphasis on security now more than ever."
Tinsley, who's also a CEO for the Orem-based company, says he handles contracts between private security companies and clients. “Sometimes security doesn’t physically go down and see the site, they get a map, which is okay, but I’m a big believer of establishing strong relationships with those individuals so we can all be in sync together," he explained.
Zachary Fowler, a general manager of Private Shield Security, says there are a few key things to look for when hiring a security firm. "A couple things to consider are capability and experience. The capability to staff the event," Fowler said. "A lot of security companies don't just have 20 and 30 guys sitting around and doing nothing."
The Provo-based security company offers services such as on-site security guards, mobile patrol services, ID checks, and badge access systems.
"Having a security company that knows what they're doing in scaling operations, whether it be 5,10, 100, 1,000 people," Fowler said. "It's considered a 1 to 25 ratio when it comes to larger events, so one security officer for 25 people, and that’s considered the minimum — on the lower end. You can go higher where it’s one security officer for 50 people; however, that’s not recommended."
In Utah, event security usually starts around $17 an hour for a basic guard, while armed guards can run $25 to $40 an hour or more. Once you add things like cameras or badge systems, costs for a single event can range from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand.
Fowler noted that if you're hiring staff who will be on the premises, to make sure they're flexible and experienced enough to deal with "changes on the fly," and that if you see opportunities to use badge access systems, take them. “What's the location like? Are there badges that can potentially be used to get into areas that are critical? Things of that nature," Fowler explained.
