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+1 800-460-0475
+1 800-460-0475
BSIS-licensed, uniformed officers protecting Los Angeles businesses, properties, and people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Most security problems in Los Angeles never need a weapon to solve. They need someone visible, alert, and standing in the right place at the right time, an officer who notices the unfamiliar van in the loading dock, who greets the visitor before they wander past reception, who writes the incident down so it holds up later.
That is what our unarmed security guards in Los Angeles do. We Guard Now provides trained, uniformed, BSIS-licensed unarmed security officers to offices, retail centers, warehouses, hotels, HOAs and construction sites across Los Angeles County. Every officer is screened, licensed by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, supervised by a real field manager, and reachable through a dispatch line that answers around the clock.
Whether you need a single unarmed security guard for a Los Angeles lobby or a rotating team covering three shifts across multiple sites, we can usually have officers on post within 24 hours.
Tell us about your property, and we’ll give you a written quote, usually the same day.
Our unarmed security guard services cover the full range of day-to-day protection a Los Angeles property actually needs. Most clients start with one of these and expand as they see the results.
Officers stationed at entrances, lobbies and gates verify identity, log visitors and contractors, issue badges, and turn away anyone without a legitimate reason to be on your property.
Scheduled and randomized patrol routes through parking structures, stairwells, corridors, loading docks, and perimeters with GPS-verified checkpoints so you can see exactly where your officer was and when.
A consistent, uniformed presence at a fixed location: front desk, entry gate, retail floor, or an area of your site that's drawing repeat problems.
A visible officer is the cheapest crime prevention that exists. Most theft, vandalism, trespassing and loitering simply relocates when someone in uniform is watching.
Officers de-escalate first, then contact LAPD or the Sheriff's Department when a situation calls for it, and every incident is written up in a timestamped report you receive, not a verbal summary you have to take on faith.
Fire alarms, medical incidents, power failures, earthquakes. Our officers are trained to direct people calmly and hold the situation together until first responders arrive.
In hotels, medical buildings and Class A offices, your guard is often the first person a visitor meets. We train officers to handle that role properly, because a rude guard costs you more than a missing one.
We build post orders around your site, not a template. Tell us the problem and we’ll tell you whether a guard is the right fix.
An unarmed security guard’s job is to observe, deter, report, and de-escalate, not to engage. The value comes from presence and attentiveness rather than force.
On a typical shift, one of our Los Angeles unarmed security officers will:
What an unarmed guard does not do is engage in armed confrontation. For sites with cash handling, high-value inventory, or a documented history of violent incidents, an armed officer is the correct choice and we provide those too.
This is the question we get asked most often, and the honest answer is that the majority of Los Angeles businesses are better served by unarmed officers.
| Comparison point | Unarmed Security Guards | Armed Security Guards |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Offices, retail, hotels, HOAs, warehouses, schools, events | Cash handling, jewelry, dispensaries, high-threat sites |
| Primary role | Deter, observe, report, de-escalate | All of the above, plus armed response capability |
| Licensing | BSIS Guard Card | BSIS Guard Card + Firearms Permit + range qualification |
| Cost | Lower hourly rate | Typically 30–50% higher |
| Public perception | Approachable, service-oriented | Authoritative, can feel severe in customer-facing spaces |
| Liability profile | Lower | Higher — requires stricter protocols and insurance |
Choose unarmed if your main concerns are theft, trespassing, vandalism, access control, after-hours coverage or simply having a professional presence on site. That covers most commercial property in Los Angeles.
Choose armed if you handle significant cash or high-value goods, operate in an area with a documented violent crime pattern, or your insurer or contract requires it.
Not sure? Tell us about your site, and we’ll tell you honestly, including when you don’t need us to send an armed officer. Many of our clients run a blended model: unarmed officers for daytime access control, armed officers for overnight or cash-transport windows.
Internal link: “Looking for armed coverage instead? See our armed security guard services in Los Angeles →.”
Lobby reception, tenant access control, after-hours patrols and parking structure coverage for Class A and multi-tenant properties across Downtown LA, Century City and the Westside.
Loss prevention, opening and closing procedures, parking lot patrols and a calm, visible presence on the sales floor during peak hours.
Gate attendants, community patrols and visitor management for gated communities, condo associations and apartment complexes. We also arrange personal and home security guard services in Los Angeles for private residences that need a discreet standing post.
Guest-facing officers who handle disturbances discreetly, manage after-hours lobby access and support your front desk without changing the tone of the property.
Hospital and clinic security in Los Angeles requires patience above everything else. Our healthcare officers are trained in de-escalation, patient privacy awareness and controlled-area access.
Gate control, truck and driver check-in, dock supervision, and inventory-shrinkage deterrence for industrial sites around Vernon, Commerce and the Port corridor. Supply chain security guard services in Los Angeles are among our fastest-growing requests.
Copper, tools, equipment and materials disappear from unsecured LA job sites nightly. Overnight and weekend unarmed coverage stops it.
Campus patrols, entry monitoring and event coverage delivered by officers screened specifically for work around students.
Dedicated parking lot security guard services in Los Angeles, patrols, vehicle break-in deterrence, and safe escorts to cars after dark.
Airport security guard services in Los Angeles for cargo terminals, FBO hangars, ground-handling yards, and airside support offices around LAX, Van Nuys, and Hawthorne, badge-controlled areas where documentation discipline matters as much as presence.
Corporate events, filming, grand openings and private functions, with short-term teams scaled to the guest count
We provide security guard services across Los Angeles County, including:
If you’re comparing security guard companies in Los Angeles, coverage area is where most of them quietly fall short; a firm headquartered in Orange County will still quote your Van Nuys site, then take an hour to reach it. Los Angeles is not one security market; it’s dozens. A retail tenant in Koreatown, a logistics yard in Vernon and a gated HOA in Woodland Hills each face different risks, different response times and, in practice, different law enforcement jurisdictions. Our officers are assigned with that in mind: we staff from the surrounding area wherever possible, so the person on your post knows the streets, the traffic patterns and which division to call.
Don’t see your neighborhood? We cover all of Los Angeles County. Call +1 714-760-5385 and ask.
California requires a Bureau of Security and Investigative Services guard card, and we verify it before an officer ever reaches your site. Plenty of unarmed security guard companies in Los Angeles treat that as a formality, we operate under PPO [PPO #] and carry full general liability and workers' compensation coverage.
Background checks, drug screening, verified employment history and an in-person interview. The state sets a floor; it isn't where we hire.
Field supervisors conduct unannounced site checks. If your officer isn't where they should be, we find out before you do.
Security problems don't wait for business hours. Neither does our line.
Daily activity reports, timestamped incident reports and GPS-verified patrol logs delivered to your inbox — documentation that holds up with insurers, courts and your own leadership.
[CLIENT COUNT] properties, [GUARD COUNT] officers, and a working knowledge of how LAPD divisions, county sheriff jurisdictions and local ordinances actually operate across this city.
We don’t publish a single hourly figure, and you should be suspicious of any Los Angeles security company that does. The honest answer is that an unarmed guard costs less than an armed one, and that your actual rate depends on six things.
An eight-hour weekday post costs less per hour than a four-hour Saturday night one. Longer, more predictable schedules are cheaper to staff, and we pass that on.
Overnight, weekend and holiday shifts carry a premium because officers are paid more to work them. Daytime business-hours coverage is the lowest rate we offer.
A quiet suburban office park and a Downtown LA property with a history of break-ins need different officers and different post orders. Risk drives staffing, and staffing drives cost.
Multi-post and multi-site contracts get better per-hour pricing than a single guard, because supervision and scheduling overhead is shared across the account.
Ongoing coverage is priced below one-off or emergency deployments. There's no minimum term required — but a standing schedule genuinely costs us less to run.
Bilingual officers, healthcare or campus experience, specific uniform standards, CCTV monitoring skills or client-mandated training all narrow the pool and affect the rate.
What we do commit to: one flat hourly rate quoted in writing before you sign, no fuel surcharges, no administrative add-ons, and no rate change mid-contract without your agreement. If a competitor’s quote looks dramatically cheaper, ask what their officers are actually paid — in Los Angeles, an unusually low bill rate almost always means high turnover and a different guard on your site every week.
Call +1 800-460-0475 or request a quote online. We’ll walk your property or review your site details and identify where coverage is genuinely needed and where it isn’t.
You get post orders, shift schedules, officer counts and a transparent hourly rate. No vague estimates, no surprise line items.
Once you approve, we assign and brief your team, and coverage begins typically within 12 hours. Your field supervisor's direct number comes with it.
There’s no long-term contract required to start. If you need unarmed security guards in Los Angeles for one weekend or one year, both are fine.
Unarmed guards deter, observe, report and de-escalate without a firearm. Armed guards do all of that and carry a weapon, requiring an additional BSIS firearms permit and range qualification. Unarmed officers suit most offices, retail, residential and industrial sites; armed officers are appropriate where cash, high-value goods or a documented violent threat is involved. Armed coverage typically costs 30–50% more.
Yes. Every officer holds a current BSIS guard card issued by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, and we verify licensing before assignment. We Guard Now operates under Private Patrol Operator license PPO #121614
Rates depend on shift length, site risk, hours of coverage and how many officers you need. Unarmed coverage generally runs well below armed rates, and longer or recurring schedules lower the hourly figure. We quote a flat hourly rate in writing with no hidden fees. Call +1 714-760-5385 for a same-day estimate.
For standard unarmed coverage in Los Angeles County, typically within 24 hours. Emergency and fire watch requests can often be filled the same day. Call our 24/7 dispatch line, and we’ll tell you honestly what we can do.
All of Los Angeles County from Downtown LA and East LA through the Westside, San Fernando Valley, South Bay, and Long Beach.
Officers carry communication radios, flashlights, mobile reporting devices and, where appropriate and permitted, defensive tools authorized under their BSIS certification. They do not carry firearms.
Yes. We provide one-off event coverage, temporary fill-ins, seasonal retail support, short-term construction watch, and ongoing contracts.
A daily activity report every shift, an incident report for anything notable, and GPS-verified patrol checkpoint logs. Everything is timestamped and delivered digitally.
Tell us about your site and we’ll give you a straight answer on what coverage you need, what it costs, and how fast we can start. Free assessment, no obligation.