Choose the Right Security: Static Security Guards vs. Mobile Security Patrol

There’s more than one way to reach a goal and more than one way to protect a property. Sometimes a two-pronged (or even multifaceted) approach is best. Static security guards and mobile security guards both have the same duties: watching for suspicious behaviour, protecting a site from intruders, reducing risks and alerting authorities when necessary. The difference? While a static security guard remains stationed at a specific location, such as the entrance, a mobile security patrol roams from place to place, catching criminals when they least suspect it. Static security guards safeguard the most vulnerable spots of your site, while mobile guards cover the entire premises, often working in tandem with other forms of security like K9 patrols.

Having a security officer patrol your premises can bring you peace of mind, but so can having one stationed at the entranceway or guarding an item of value. Which approach is best for your business, and can you combine both?

A company with extensive experience in security services and procedures, SSTC can help you choose the right security strategy. In this article, we take a closer look at the merits of static security guards vs. mobile patrols to help you draw your own conclusion.

Static Security Guards

We’ve all seen static security guards at work. They’re most commonly used in retail stores and large-scale events and are always positioned in similar spots (for example, at the entrance to a jewellery store, bank, industrial site, music festival etc.). In Australia, static security guards are very common, with 39,900+ people across the country employed in the profession. The presence of static security deters criminals and makes members of the public feel safer. If you serve alcohol on your premises, if you’re experiencing theft or if you’re located in a high-crime area, these are all indicators that your business would benefit from security guards, along with your staff and customers.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having static security guards patrol your site:

Advantages

• Static security guards control who is entering and leaving the premises, catching and detaining intruders upon entry.
• Static security officers are highly visible and their presence helps both members of the public and staff to feel safer. They’re also highly effective at deterring criminals without having to physically handle them at all.
• The public often approaches static security officers with questions, which improves your reputation and credibility with the public.

Drawbacks

• Static security officers can’t be everywhere at once. Being limited to a particular location means they’re slower to respond to trouble elsewhere on the premises.
• Static security guards can often be more expensive than the mobile kind, requiring more advanced levels of training and equipment.

Mobile Security Patrol

Mobile patrol security officers keep an eye on multiple areas of a site or multiple sites. They’re equipped to answer alarms from different monitoring stations and to spring into action wherever the threat is coming from. Mobile patrols travel by foot, car or bicycle, covering large areas of ground. Offering a powerful strategy for large businesses, franchises and those with multiple companies, mobile security patrols also have their numerous pros and cons. 

Advantages

• Mobile security patrols cover a lot of ground, and their movements are difficult to predict, which makes it hard for would-be criminals to evade.
• They can work well in conjunction with other forms of security, such as K9 personnel.

Drawbacks

• Mobile security officer patrols are less visible than static security guards, so they often don’t provide as much of a deterring factor.
• They may not be available in all areas or may be deterred by factors like heavy rain or snow.

Static and mobile security are both effective approaches, but which one is best for your business? There’s a lot to consider when deciding between static and mobile security guards in Sydney. 

Factors to Consider When Choosing Security

Some considerations when choosing between static guards and mobile security officer patrols include:

Purpose of security forces

Whether it’s responding to emergencies or keeping an eye on the premises after hours, your reason for hiring a security team will help determine the type of security you need.

Your budget

How much money can you afford to allocate to hiring security? This will affect the type of security that you can afford and the scale.

The size of the premises

It almost goes without saying that the larger the premises, the bigger the security team you’ll need to manage and protect them.

Frequency

Do you need your premises patrolled on a daily or nightly basis or just for special events? The more frequently you need security services on your site, the more staff you’ll need to hire.

Which Is Best For You?

Choosing between static and roaming security options is not easy as both have their benefits. Ultimately it comes down to what your business needs the most, but even that’s sometimes difficult to assess. In a nutshell, static security guards are best for businesses that require a constant security presence at one particular location. Mobile patrols are more equipped to handle businesses with large premises to control or that are spread across different locations.

What can you do if your business is in both categories? Fortunately, you don’t have to make an exclusive choice between static and mobile security. There’s a middle ground.

Hybrid Security Approach

For many businesses, a hybrid approach combining both static and mobile security guards is the superior option. Static security guards are stationed at vulnerable locations while mobile security officers patrol the premises detecting threats and responding to incidents.

Combining both approaches provides your staff and the public with the highest levels of safety and security in a cost-effective way. It gives your security team the chance to quickly respond to incidents in the manner of a roving patrol while maintaining the visibility of stationary guards.

If your premises contain high-value items, if you’ve been targeted before or if there’s any other reason your premise is a high-security risk, a hybrid security approach is most likely the option for you. It offers the strongest, most bullet-proof degree of protection. 

Effective Static and Mobile Security at SSTC

If you need any help choosing the right security approach for your business, SSTC offers a detailed level of expertise with a multi-pronged approach to strategies. Our various security services include static security guards, K9 security guards with handlers, mobile security patrols, checkpoint security and security consultancy services, among others.

The company director, Liam, has 12 years of military experience and has instilled that same sense of discipline into every one of our security guards. When you hire security services through SSTC, you can be assured our guards have the skills, the training and the dedication to protect your team, your customers and your livelihood.

Liam’s team has spent a total of 25+ combined years in the security industry, and there are some hard and fast values we all aspire to, including safety, integrity, communication and teamwork. These values form an integral part of the way we approach security and our various methods. We’re the trusted choice of many of Australia’s largest construction companies.

To find the best security option for your company, get your free quote from SSTC.