Temporary security guards in Santa Cruz.

Officers for as long as the need lasts.

Some security needs have an end date built in. The glazier can’t replace the front window until Monday. The building is empty until the new tenant signs. The remodel has the back wall open for three weeks. The town is about to fill up for the summer. In each case, you need officers now, and only for a while.

Tell us the address, the dates and what happened, and we’ll get moving. The officers who arrive have already been told about your entrances, your worries and who to call, and they keep the same timed log and emailed shift reports as any ongoing post, so you can follow along from home.

Short-term coverage can be overnight only, a 24-hour post or just the opening and closing hours. If the end date slips, the coverage simply continues, since every agreement is month to month anyway. It also combines with a fire watch officer or with patrol stops at random times.

The night after a break-in

A break-in leaves more than a mess. The door no longer locks, the window is boarded over, and whoever got in once knows the way. The first few nights afterward are when a property is most likely to be hit again.

An officer on site for those nights closes that window. They watch the damaged entry, walk the rest of the property and keep a timed log. Once the repairs are done and things feel settled, coverage can step down to patrol or stop entirely. Planning ahead for the busy months instead? Our guide to summer coverage covers how properties scale up and back down.