01
Post or patrol route
How to tell whether your property needs a person at one entrance, a person moving along a route, or a mix of both across the day.
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Resources
Private Security Resources
Practical guides for property managers, store teams and event hosts deciding how posts, patrols and camera observation should cover their entrances and hours.
Resources
Guides
02
Cameras and on-site security
How watching your existing camera views pairs with posts and patrols, and why one shared contact order keeps every observation in one record.
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Office security checklist
A step-by-step checklist for planning lobby, parking, delivery and after-hours coverage at an office building or a multi-building campus.
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Receiving and closing
Where a security presence belongs while the receiving door stands open and through the closing routine, from the register count to the parking lot.
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Preparing for an assessment
How to get ready for a security review: what it looks at, the documents to bring, who should take part and the questions to ask.
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Event security planning
How to plan event coverage around entry points, guest flow, restricted rooms and the timeline from vendor load-in to the last truck out.
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Reducing shoplifting
How guards, store layout, camera views, staff habits and incident notes work together against both casual shoplifting and organized theft.
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Security guard cost
Hourly guard, event and camera monitoring rates from San Francisco to Morgan Hill, with worked examples for a weekly post, a 24-hour post and an event.
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Good Neighbor perimeter checks
How San Francisco’s Good Neighbor Policy draws the perimeter, what each of the three daily passes should look at, and where every finding gets routed.
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Armed vs unarmed hourly rates
In 2026 market pricing, an unarmed security guard in the Bay Area bills $36 to $50 an hour and an armed security guard $60 to $75 an hour. This guide shows what moves a post within each band, what the armed premium buys, and three worked monthly totals you can hold against your own schedule.
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California retail theft law
Prop 36 and a set of 2025 laws changed how California treats repeat and organized retail theft, but not the $950 line or what a guard may do at the door. This guide sets out each rule with its code section, in plain tables a store owner can use.
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CPTED explained
What crime prevention through environmental design means, how four public sources group its principles, what the federal lighting evidence found, and where security officers fit beside good design.
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Daly City crime statistics
Daly City’s official crime figures come out once a year, as citywide totals from the state. This page charts them year by year beside San Mateo County, explains what the counts include and leave out, and shows how a property manager can use them when planning guard and patrol coverage.
Use the tool14
Free tools
Every calculator, data tool, report form and printable checklist HALO has built for the people who run offices, rental properties and facilities sits on this one page, so you can price coverage, size up risk and run a post without hunting through guides.
See every tool15
HOA security contract checklist
A 14-point checklist for HOA boards comparing security proposals. It covers the operator’s license, its insurance and the contract terms, each guard’s registration, and the Davis-Stirling steps for voting and record-keeping. Each item is marked as law or industry practice.
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Coverage hours planner
Which hours does your property actually need covered? This planning chart sets common risk windows against business-hours posts, after-hours patrols and 24-hour coverage.
Use the tool17
Cost calculator
Use this private security cost calculator to estimate a monthly price range for an on-site guard, an armed guard or nightly patrol visits, then send it with your quote request.
Use the calculator18
SF crime trends by neighborhood
Pick a San Francisco neighborhood and see which incident categories police reports show there, how the last twelve months compare with the twelve before, and what those patterns mean for patrol timing, guard posts and parking coverage at your property.
Use the tool19
San Mateo crime statistics
Year-by-year reported crime for the city of San Mateo from the state’s official file, with rates per 100,000 residents, a plain note on the 2022 reporting change, and how a property manager can use the numbers when planning guard and patrol coverage.
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SB 553 workplace violence plan
Most California employers have needed a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan since July 1, 2024. Here is what the law asks the plan to cover, the nine fields of the incident log, the training cycle and the record rules, plus a fill-in template you can download.
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Daily activity report template
A free security daily activity report in printable, Word and Excel copies: a shift header, a time-stamped log, patrol rounds, visitors and vehicles, hazards, keys and a closing summary. Here is how to fill it in and get the most from it.
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For security directors
Run security for an office, campus, store or industrial site? This page gathers HALO’s explainers, rate guides, printable checklists and planners for whoever owns the guard program, whatever their title.
View the resources23
Incident report template
A free incident report form for security officers, in printable, Word and Excel copies. It walks the writer from the first time stamp to the last signature, so the report answers the questions a manager, insurer or police officer will ask later.
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Post orders checklist
Every post runs on its written orders. Check yours against this list: post hours, shift duties, rounds, visitor rules, reports, call lists and the change between shifts.
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Pass-down log template
A free shift handoff form for security posts, in printable, Word and Excel copies. Outgoing and incoming officers record open items, post order changes, the key and equipment count, the shift’s incidents, expected people and hazards, then both sign.
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South San Francisco crime statistics
Reported violent and property crime in South San Francisco for every year from 2019 to 2025, from the state’s official file, with rates per 100,000 residents, a note on the 2022 reporting switch, and what the numbers mean for guard and patrol planning.
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