01 / Unarmed
Unarmed security guards
Approachable officers for shops, hotels, offices, clinics, campuses and apartment buildings.
View details
Schools and campuses
School security
in Santa Cruz.
Security for Santa Cruz public and private schools: a friendly officer at arrival and dismissal, help at the front office and patrol while classes are out.
Arrival, dismissal and empty breaks.
The rush at a school comes in bursts. Cars line up along the curb at arrival, the front office gets busy with late slips and parent pickups mid-morning, and dismissal empties the whole campus in fifteen minutes. In between, the gate sees parents, volunteers and delivery drivers looking for the right building.
An officer near the main gate during those bursts gives staff another set of eyes and gives visitors someone to ask. On game nights and concert evenings, officers watch the entrances and the lot until families head home. Over weekends and long breaks, patrol cars check classroom doors, fields and portables, logging each stop.
Services
Services for this property type
02 / Events
Event security
Doors, wristbands, crowds and closing for concerts, weddings, festivals and company events.
View details03 / Patrol
Mobile patrol
Marked patrol cars checking your property at unpredictable times through the night.
View detailsVisitors at the front gate
A school day brings a steady flow of visitors: parents, tutors, contractors, delivery drivers and, this close to the university, the occasional college visitor who took a wrong turn. Most are exactly who they say they are, and a friendly officer at the entrance helps them find the office without staff having to stop what they are doing.
The few who should not be there notice the officer too. A simple greeting and a question about where they are headed is usually enough, and anything unusual goes into the shift report for the front office.
Evenings on campus
Games, concerts, open houses and parent nights bring crowds after the regular staff have gone home. An officer at the gate or the gym door watches arrivals, keeps visitors out of closed buildings and stays until the parking lot is empty.
Each evening can be booked on its own, so a school can cover a big game or a spring performance without a standing post. The event security page explains how those nights are planned.
When the campus is empty
Weekends, winter break and the long summer leave buildings empty for days. Patrol stops at changing times check classroom doors, the gym, the portables and the fields, with each visit logged and photos taken of anything broken or tagged.
Summer work crews can be checked in and out at the gate, giving the facilities office a record of who was on campus and when. Reports go to whoever you name, from the principal to a district contact.
School and campus security costs in Santa Cruz
School posts in Santa Cruz run about what office posts do, mostly $38 to $46 an hour in 2026 figures. The coverage looks a lot like an office building’s: an access post at the front gate during the busy parts of the day and patrol after hours. What differs is the calendar, because breaks and summer change how many hours a school needs.
Consider a private school that wants an officer at the main gate from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. That’s four hours a school day, roughly 84 hours a month, and at $41 an hour the post costs about $3,444 a month during term. Over winter break and summer, the posted hours stop, and a few patrol visits a night watch the empty campus for much less. Game nights and concert evenings add hours at the gate and the lot. Rates climb toward $64 when officers also run visitor sign-in at a busy front office. The free walkthrough puts the plan in writing.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
Can we book an officer for a playoff game or a spring concert?
Yes. Evening events can be booked one at a time, with no standing commitment.
Does campus patrol continue through summer vacation?
Yes. Visits keep going through summer and every other break, with each stop logged.
Can the officer work with our front office on sign-in?
Yes. The officer can greet visitors at the gate and walk them to the office to sign in.
Who gets the shift reports for a school?
Anyone you choose, often the principal and the facilities office. Reports arrive by email, with photos of any incident.
What role does the officer have with students?
A friendly, visible one: greeting families, directing visitors and letting staff know if something looks wrong. Student discipline stays with the school.
Resources