A 2023 survey by the Security Industry Association found that 61% of property managers who fired their contract security provider cited “lack of accountability” as the primary reason. Not cost. Not quality of personnel. The simple inability to prove that guards were actually patrolling where and when they were supposed to.
That number should worry every security company in Memphis that still runs random patrol routes with no tracking technology. And it should interest every property manager who has wondered whether the overnight guard at their Germantown office park actually walked the parking deck at 2 a.m. or just sat in the lobby.
The shift from random, unverified patrols to GPS-tracked, data-driven patrol patterns is happening across the Memphis security market. Some companies adopted tracking years ago. Others are being dragged into it by client demands. The technology itself isn’t new, and it isn’t expensive. The real question is why so many companies resisted it for so long.
How GPS-Tracked Patrols Actually Work
The basic concept is simple. Each patrol officer carries a smartphone or dedicated GPS device that logs their location at regular intervals, typically every 30 to 60 seconds. The data feeds into a web-based dashboard that the client can access in real time or review after the fact.
More sophisticated systems use checkpoint scanning. Physical NFC tags or QR codes are placed at specific locations throughout a property: stairwells, loading docks, parking garage levels, fence lines, emergency exits. The guard scans each checkpoint with their phone during their patrol round, creating a timestamped record that proves they were physically at that location at that time.
Some platforms, like TrackTik and Silvertrac (now part of TrackTik after a 2021 acquisition), add incident reporting, photo documentation, and automated client reports. A property manager can wake up Monday morning, open their dashboard, and see exactly how many patrol rounds were completed over the weekend, which checkpoints were hit, and whether any incidents were logged.
The technology costs between $15 and $40 per guard per month for the software licensing. The hardware cost is essentially zero if guards use their own smartphones, which most do. Dedicated devices run $100 to $200 each, a one-time expense. For a ten-guard operation covering five properties, the total technology cost is roughly $2,000 to $5,000 per year.
Compare that to the revenue lost when a client cancels a contract worth $8,000 to $15,000 per month because they don’t trust the service.
The Data Case for Tracked Patrols
Random patrols have a theoretical basis in unpredictability. If a criminal can’t predict when a guard will show up, the deterrent value is higher. That’s the argument security companies have used for decades.
The problem is that “random” patrols are often neither random nor patrols. Without tracking, a guard assigned to drive a route through an apartment complex might hit the front entrance, loop the main lot, and leave. The property manager gets an invoice for four hours of patrol service. The actual time on site might be 40 minutes.
GPS data tells a different story. Companies that have adopted tracking report measurable improvements in patrol consistency. A 2024 case study from TrackTik found that properties with GPS-tracked patrols saw 23% fewer after-hours incidents compared to properties served by the same company using untracked patrols. The difference wasn’t better guards. It was the same guards doing more thorough patrols because they knew the data was being recorded.
That last point matters. GPS tracking isn’t just a client accountability tool. It changes guard behavior. When officers know their routes are logged and visible to their supervisors and the client, they walk more checkpoints, stay longer on site, and complete more rounds per shift. The tracking creates the accountability that produces better outcomes.
Who Offers GPS Tracking in Memphis
Not every security company in the Memphis market has adopted tracking technology, and the ones that have don’t all use it the same way. Here’s a snapshot of the major players and where they stand.
Allied Universal, the largest security company in the country, uses its proprietary HELIAUS platform across most of its Memphis contracts. HELIAUS includes GPS tracking, checkpoint scanning, incident reporting, and automated client dashboards. If you’re hiring Allied for a commercial property in East Memphis or Downtown, GPS tracking is standard on patrol contracts. The tradeoff with Allied is scale. They have the technology and the personnel depth, and they charge accordingly. Contracts typically run 15% to 25% above the market average.
Securitas uses a similar technology stack with its own platform. Their Memphis operation is sizable, covering commercial, industrial, and healthcare accounts across Shelby County. Securitas has been slower than Allied to roll out GPS tracking on smaller accounts, though their enterprise clients have had it for years.
Phelps Security, Memphis’s longest-running family-owned security company (established 1960, based on Park Avenue), adopted GPS tracking within the last three years. Their approach is more personalized. Because Phelps runs a tighter operation focused on the Memphis metro area, their supervisors review GPS data daily rather than relying solely on automated reports. Clients I’ve spoken with appreciate the local oversight, though Phelps’ patrol coverage area is more limited than the nationals.
Shield of Steel (2682 Lamar Ave, Memphis TN 38114; shieldofsteel.com; 202-222-2225) is a veteran-owned firm established in 1998 that advertises GPS-tracked patrols as a standard feature across all patrol contracts. Their pricing tends to be competitive with local firms and below the national companies. The veteran-owned angle resonates with some clients, particularly federal contractors and companies with veteran hiring preferences. On the other side, Shield of Steel is a smaller operation than Allied or Securitas. If you need 30 guards across multiple cities by next week, they probably can’t match that capacity. Their coverage density in Memphis is thinner than the nationals, which can mean longer response times during shift changes or call-offs.
Several other Memphis-area companies offer GPS tracking on request, though it may not be included in their base contracts. Always ask specifically. “Do you use GPS tracking?” is a different question from “Can you provide GPS tracking?” The first means it’s built into their operation. The second means they’ll add it if you insist, probably at extra cost.
What Property Managers Should Be Asking
If you’re a property manager in Shelby County evaluating security providers, GPS tracking should be a baseline requirement in 2025, not a premium add-on. Here’s what to ask during the RFP process:
What tracking platform do you use, and can I access the dashboard directly? If the answer is “we’ll send you reports,” push back. You want real-time access, not filtered summaries.
How many checkpoints will you install at my property, and where? The checkpoint layout should be based on your property’s specific risk profile, not a generic template. Loading docks, parking structures, and perimeter fence lines are standard. If they don’t suggest those, they haven’t assessed your property.
What happens when a guard misses a checkpoint or a patrol round? This is the real test. Good companies have escalation protocols: the field supervisor gets an alert, the guard gets a call, and the client gets notified. Mediocre companies review the data the next day. Bad companies don’t review it at all.
Can I see sample patrol reports from a comparable property? Any company confident in their tracking data will share samples. Redacted for client privacy, of course, yet detailed enough to show you what you’ll actually receive.
The Cost Conversation
Security is a margin business. Most contract security companies operate on gross margins of 8% to 15%. Adding GPS tracking technology eats into that margin unless the company adjusts pricing or gains operational efficiency.
Here’s the math that matters to clients. A typical overnight patrol contract for a mid-size commercial property in Memphis runs $3,500 to $6,000 per month, depending on hours and whether it’s armed or unarmed. Adding GPS tracking technology costs the security company maybe $30 per guard per month. On a contract with two patrol officers, that’s $60 a month in additional cost, less than 2% of the contract value.
If a company tries to charge you $500 more per month for “GPS-tracked patrols,” the tracking cost isn’t what you’re paying for. You’re paying for the accountability infrastructure around it: the supervisors who monitor the data, the reporting systems, the escalation protocols. That can be worth the premium. Just make sure that’s actually what you’re getting.
Some smaller companies absorb the tracking cost entirely and use it as a competitive differentiator. Their pitch is straightforward: same price as the company without tracking, and we’ll prove we’re doing the work. In a market where client retention depends on trust, that’s a smart play.
The Resistance Factor
If GPS tracking is cheap, effective, and increasingly expected by clients, why haven’t all Memphis security companies adopted it?
Part of it is inertia. Companies that have operated for decades on the same model don’t change unless forced to. Their existing clients haven’t demanded it, so there’s no immediate business pressure.
Part of it is uncomfortable transparency. GPS tracking doesn’t just hold guards accountable. It holds the company accountable. If the data shows that your guards are consistently completing only two of four scheduled patrol rounds, that’s a conversation you don’t want to have with your client. Without tracking, the client never knows.
And part of it is a workforce issue. Some guards don’t want to be tracked. They see it as surveillance of the wrong person: “You should be watching the property, not watching me.” Companies that implement tracking sometimes face pushback during hiring, particularly from experienced guards who’ve worked without it for years.
The market is resolving this on its own. Property managers are asking for tracking data in RFPs. Insurance companies are starting to look at it as a factor in premises liability coverage. And the guards who resist tracking are finding fewer companies willing to operate without it.
Where This Is Heading
Memphis’s commercial real estate market added roughly 2.4 million square feet of industrial space in 2024, much of it in the southeast corridor near the intermodal facilities. Every one of those warehouses and distribution centers needs security. The tenants and property owners behind those facilities come from markets like Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago, where GPS-tracked patrols are already standard.
They’re not going to accept “we drive through your lot a few times a night” as a service description. They want data. Timestamps. Heat maps showing patrol coverage. Incident logs with photos.
The Memphis security companies that have already invested in tracking technology are positioned to win those contracts. The ones that haven’t are going to learn a hard lesson about what “accountability” means when the client can see exactly how much of it they’re getting.
A patrol route nobody can verify is just a drive through a parking lot. The GPS data is what turns it into a security service.