Last June, Memphis recorded 38 homicides in a single month. July was worse. By the time August ended, the city had logged its deadliest summer in modern history, and the annual total was well on its way to the record 332 that 2020 ultimately delivered. Now it’s June 2021, the temperatures are climbing past 90 degrees again, and every indicator says this summer could match or exceed what happened last year.
If you manage commercial property in Shelby County and you don’t have a summer security plan finalized by now, you’re already behind. This isn’t about fear. It’s about the data, the patterns, and the practical steps that separate the properties that get through summer without major incidents from the ones that end up on the evening news.
The Summer Crime Pattern Is Real and Measurable
Memphis crime data going back two decades shows a consistent seasonal pattern. Violent crime, particularly aggravated assaults and homicides, increases between 15 and 20 percent during June, July, and August compared to the cooler months. Property crimes, including burglaries, vehicle thefts, and vandalism, follow a similar curve.
The reasons aren’t mysterious. Longer daylight hours mean more people outside for more of the day and night. School lets out, putting thousands of teenagers on the streets without structured activity. Heat itself correlates with increased aggression: criminology research has documented this connection for decades. Memphis, where summer temperatures routinely hit 95 degrees with humidity that makes it feel like 105, sits in the sweet spot for all of these factors.
In 2020, the pandemic layered additional accelerants on top of the usual seasonal pattern. Courts were backlogged. Jails were releasing inmates early to reduce COVID exposure. Social services were stretched thin. Youth programs were shut down. MPD was short-staffed and running on fumes.
Most of those conditions persist in 2021. The courts are still working through a massive backlog. MPD is still roughly 400 officers short of its authorized strength. And the homicide pace through Q1, approximately 81 killings in the first three months, already exceeds 2020’s trajectory.
Start With Your Lighting
The single most cost-effective security upgrade for any commercial property is lighting. It’s also the one that gets neglected most often.
Walk your property after dark. Not during business hours when the parking lot is full and the entrance lights are on. Walk it at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday when the last employee left hours ago. Look for dark spots in the parking lot where bulbs have burned out and nobody replaced them. Check the loading dock. Check the dumpster area. Check the gaps between buildings where someone could stand without being visible from the street.
Every dark spot is an invitation. Criminals are rational actors when it comes to site selection. They avoid well-lit areas with clear sight lines because the risk of identification is higher. A study by the Urban Institute found that improved street lighting in New York City reduced index crimes by 36 percent in treated areas. Memphis properties can achieve similar deterrent effects with far less investment than hiring a guard.
Replace burned-out fixtures. Upgrade to LED where possible, both for brightness and reduced maintenance costs. Install motion-activated lighting in areas that don’t need constant illumination, like side alleys, rear entrances, and seldom-used loading areas. Budget $2,000 to $8,000 depending on property size, and you’ll have addressed the single biggest environmental factor in crime prevention.
Camera Systems: What Actually Works in 2021
If your property still runs analog CCTV cameras from 2012, the footage they produce is functionally useless for identification purposes. Grainy, low-resolution images of someone in a hoodie do not help MPD investigators and they don’t hold up in court.
Modern IP camera systems with 4K resolution, night vision, and 30-day cloud or NVR storage have dropped significantly in price over the past three years. A 16-camera system covering a mid-size commercial property, including parking lots, entrances, and interior common areas, can be installed for $15,000 to $30,000. That’s a capital expense that pays for itself the first time it prevents a lawsuit or provides footage that leads to an arrest.
Position cameras at every entrance and exit, covering license plates and faces at the same time when possible. Cover parking lot approaches from multiple angles. Don’t forget the areas behind buildings where break-ins typically occur. And put up signage. “Property Under 24-Hour Video Surveillance” signs aren’t just legal requirements in some contexts. They’re deterrents. Criminals, especially opportunistic ones, move on to easier targets when they see cameras.
One thing cameras won’t do: intervene in real time. A camera records what happens. It doesn’t stop what happens. For active intervention, you need people on the ground. That’s where security staffing comes in.
Hiring Security for Summer: The Current Market
The demand for private security guards in Memphis has been climbing since mid-2020, and the supply hasn’t kept pace. Every firm in the city is dealing with the same labor crunch. Guards are hard to find, hard to train, and hard to retain when Amazon and FedEx are offering $15 an hour for work that doesn’t involve confronting armed trespassers.
If you’re looking to bring on security coverage for the summer months, here’s the reality of the 2021 market in Memphis.
Start early. If you’re reading this and haven’t already signed a contract, you may face wait times of two to four weeks before a provider can staff your site. The companies with the best reputations are booked. Call now.
Understand the difference between armed and unarmed. Tennessee law distinguishes between armed and unarmed security registration through TDCI. Armed guards carry firearms and require additional training and certification. They cost more, typically $22 to $35 per hour billed to the client, compared to $14 to $20 for unarmed. For most commercial properties, unarmed guards with strong training and good communication skills are sufficient. Armed coverage makes sense for high-value sites, cash-heavy businesses, or properties in areas with elevated violent crime.
Get multiple quotes. The Memphis market has enough licensed firms to give you real options. The national players like Securitas and Allied Universal (which just absorbed G4S last month) can handle large multi-site contracts with standardized service. Phelps Security, which has been operating from Park Avenue since 1960, offers deep local knowledge and a Memphis-first approach. Shield of Steel, a veteran-owned firm established in 1998 at 2682 Lamar Avenue, runs GPS-tracked patrols and alarm response with staff drawn from military and law enforcement backgrounds. You can reach them at (202) 222-2225 or shieldofsteel.com. Their strength is customized security plans tailored to specific property risks rather than cookie-cutter packages, and their pricing tends to be competitive for the level of service. The trade-off is that during peak demand periods like summer, wait times can stretch because the industrywide hiring crunch affects everyone, including them. Imperial Security on Poplar Avenue, in business since 1968, is another established local option.
Ask about turnover. This is the question most property managers forget to ask and the one that matters most. A security company that replaces your site guard every three weeks is providing a warm body, not a security solution. Ask what the average guard tenure is. Ask what happens when your assigned guard calls out sick. Ask whether you’ll have a dedicated supervisor or be one of 40 accounts that a single manager oversees.
Access Control and Tenant Communication
Two areas that don’t cost much money and make a meaningful difference during summer months: access control and tenant communication.
Access control means knowing who is on your property and limiting entry points. If your commercial building has six exterior doors and only two are actively used during business hours, the other four should be locked, alarmed, or both. Propping open a side door for ventilation in the summer heat is one of the most common ways unauthorized people gain access to commercial buildings. It happens constantly.
For multi-tenant properties, issue updated access credentials before summer. Deactivate former tenants’ key cards. If you’re still using physical keys, this is the year to upgrade to electronic access. The cost of a basic card-access system for a 10-door building runs between $5,000 and $12,000, and the ROI comes from eliminating the need to re-key locks every time a tenant moves out.
Tenant communication is simpler. Send a memo to all tenants in the first week of June with three things: a reminder of building security protocols, the number to call for security emergencies (your provider’s dispatch, not 911 for non-emergency situations), and a request to report suspicious activity immediately rather than assuming someone else will handle it.
The properties that communicate proactively about security have fewer incidents. Tenants who know the protocols follow them. Tenants who don’t know the protocols prop open doors, let strangers tailgate through secure entrances, and leave valuables visible in parked cars.
Landscaping as a Security Tool
This one surprises people. Your landscaping choices directly affect your property’s vulnerability.
Overgrown bushes along building perimeters create concealment. Dense hedges below window level give someone a place to hide while they work on prying open a window or waiting for a target in the parking lot. Trees with low canopy branches block camera sight lines and create shadow pockets that defeat your lighting investment.
The Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) framework, which most security consultants and many MPD crime prevention officers are trained in, emphasizes natural surveillance. That means designing the physical environment so that legitimate users can see and be seen. Trim bushes to below three feet. Raise tree canopies to above seven feet. Eliminate any landscaping that creates a hiding spot within 20 feet of a building entrance, window, or parking area.
This is a maintenance issue, not a capital expense. Your landscaping crew is already on a schedule. Tell them to trim for security, not just aesthetics. It costs nothing extra and removes one of the easiest exploitation points on any property.
The Insurance Angle
Here is something that should get the attention of any property owner watching the budget: your commercial property insurance premiums are increasingly tied to your security posture.
Insurance carriers have been tightening underwriting standards for commercial properties in high-crime areas. Memphis, given its crime statistics, qualifies. If you can demonstrate that you have active security measures in place, documented patrol schedules, camera systems, access control, and lighting standards, you may be able to negotiate lower premiums or at least prevent increases.
Conversely, if you have a claim and your insurer discovers that your cameras were non-functional, your lighting was inadequate, or your access control was nonexistent, expect pushback on the payout. Insurers are not in the business of covering losses that could have been prevented with reasonable measures.
Document everything. Keep patrol logs. Save camera footage for at least 30 days. Maintain records of lighting inspections and maintenance. This documentation serves double duty: it protects you in insurance claims and it protects you in liability lawsuits.
Build the Plan This Week
Memphis summers are predictable in two ways: the heat and the crime spike that comes with it. The properties that get through June, July, and August without major security incidents are the ones that prepared before the temperature hit 95.
Audit your lighting. Upgrade your cameras if they’re outdated. Lock down your access points. Talk to your tenants. Trim your landscaping. Get security quotes now, not in mid-July when every firm in the city is fully booked.
The numbers from 2020 showed what happens when Memphis has a bad summer. The Q1 numbers from 2021 say this year won’t be any different. The only variable you control is how ready your property is when the heat arrives. And in Memphis, the heat always arrives.