Static Guard vs Mobile Patrolling: Which Does Your Property Need?
Static Guard vs Mobile Patrolling: Which Does Your Property Need?
Written by Paul Thandi, Operations Manager, On Guard Security Ltd. — 10+ years in BC security · Updated September 2026
Most property managers who call us already know they need security. What they are less sure about is the format: a guard who stays on site for the whole shift, or mobile patrolling, where a licensed officer drives between properties and checks yours several times a night. The two look similar on a quote but solve different problems, and choosing the wrong one means paying for coverage you don't use or leaving a gap you didn't see. This guide explains what each option is, where each fits, how the cost logic differs, and when a hybrid makes more sense than either.
Key takeaways
A static guard stays at one post for the full shift; mobile patrolling means an officer visits your property several times per shift as part of a route.
Static guards suit sites that need continuous presence, people contact or access control; mobile patrols suit sites that mainly need checks, deterrence and documentation.
Static coverage is billed hourly per guard, while patrols are usually billed per visit or as a monthly plan, which is why patrols often cost less for after-hours coverage.
Many properties do best with a hybrid: a static guard during peak hours and mobile patrols overnight or on weekends.
In BC, both static guards and patrol officers must hold a valid security worker licence, and the company must hold a security business licence.
A static guard, sometimes called a stationary or fixed-post guard, is assigned to one property for a defined shift and stays there. The guard may sit at a front desk, stand at a gate, or walk internal rounds, but the defining feature is continuous presence: someone is on your property for every minute of the shift.
That presence makes a static guard the right tool when the job involves people. Typical static duties include:
Access control — checking who comes in, signing in contractors and visitors, and keeping doors from being propped open.
Customer and resident contact — answering questions, helping with deliveries and giving directions.
Observing and reporting — noticing when something is out of place and recording it in a daily activity report.
Immediate response — calling 911 and your designated contacts the moment an emergency starts, and assisting as trained.
Visible deterrence — a uniformed guard on site changes behaviour in a way an empty lobby does not.
The trade-off is cost and flexibility. Because you are paying for every hour, a static guard is most efficient when there is real work to do during those hours.
Mobile patrolling is a service where a licensed security officer drives a route that includes several client properties and conducts a set number of checks at each one per shift. At every visit the officer gets out of the vehicle and does a physical inspection: walking the perimeter, testing doors and gates, checking lighting, looking for signs of forced entry, fire hazards or water leaks, and dealing with anyone who shouldn't be there by asking them to leave on the owner's behalf.
The value of mobile patrolling comes from three things:
Unpredictability. Visits happen at varied times, so anyone watching the property can't tell when the next check will come.
Documentation. Each visit is logged. With GPS-tracked patrols, the log shows when the officer arrived, how long they stayed and what they found.
Efficiency. You share the officer's time with other properties on the route, so you pay for the checks rather than for idle hours.
Mobile patrols can also handle alarm response calls, lock-ups and unlocks, and spot checks after a known incident. The BC Security Services Act treats providing a guard patrol or watch of property as security guard service, so patrol officers are licensed and regulated in the same way as static guards.
Key insight: a patrol is only as good as its record. If a provider can't show you when each visit happened and what the officer checked, you have no way to tell a real patrol from a drive-by.
Here is how the decision usually plays out across the property types we cover in Surrey and the rest of the Lower Mainland. Treat these as starting points for a site assessment, not fixed rules.
Construction sites. Overnight and weekend risk is the main concern. Smaller sites often start with mobile patrolling; larger sites with high-value equipment, open perimeters or active fire safety requirements usually need a static guard. Our construction site security page covers both.
Office and commercial buildings. Daytime access control and reception work point toward a static guard or concierge; after-hours lock-up checks are a natural fit for patrols. See how we handle commercial properties.
Apartment and strata buildings. Parkade checks, bike rooms and door security suit scheduled patrols; buildings with a front desk or a history of repeated incidents may need a static presence at set hours.
Warehouses and industrial yards. Large perimeters and quiet overnight hours suit patrols; shipping and receiving hours with truck traffic may call for a static guard at the gate.
Retail plazas and parking lots. Patrols after closing handle loitering and lock-up checks; busy trading hours with repeat shoplifting call for a static loss prevention presence.
Vacant buildings. Patrols are usually the most cost-effective way to show the building is watched and to catch leaks, break-ins or fire hazards early.
Key insight: the question isn't "how much security do we want?" but "what has to happen on site, and when?" If the answer is "someone must be there to deal with people," you need a static guard for those hours. If it is "someone must check that nothing has changed," a patrol usually does the job.
We don't publish flat rates because the numbers depend heavily on the site, but the billing models are straightforward and worth understanding before you compare quotes.
Static guards are billed hourly, per guard. The main cost drivers are the number of hours per week, the number of guards per shift, overnight, weekend and statutory holiday hours, any specialised duties, and contract length. A 24/7 post adds up quickly because it covers every hour of the week, and every hour needs more than one person across the rotation.
Mobile patrolling is billed per visit or as a monthly plan. The drivers are the number of visits per night, how long each visit takes, the size of the property, and whether you need extra services such as lock-ups, alarm response or written reports sent to you after every visit. Because the officer's time is shared across a route, a few visits a night typically cost a fraction of a full overnight static shift.
Two points often get missed when comparing quotes. First, a cheaper patrol plan with too few visits can leave gaps long enough to defeat the purpose. Second, a static guard with nothing to do is expensive deterrence. For a wider look at how rates are built, read our 2026 guide to security guard pricing in BC.
A lot of properties don't need a guard all day, every day, but they need more than a few checks overnight. That's where a hybrid plan works well. Common combinations include:
Static by day, patrol by night. A guard or concierge handles access and people during business hours; patrols take over after close.
Patrol during the week, static on weekends. Useful for construction sites and warehouses where the long weekend is the real exposure.
Temporary static cover on top of a patrol plan. After a break-in, during a tenant move-out or while a fire alarm is down, a static guard is added for a fixed period, then scaled back to patrols.
Patrol plus alarm response. The patrol officer checks the property on a schedule and also attends when your monitored alarm goes off.
The advantage of a hybrid is that you pay for continuous presence only when it earns its cost, and keep regular checks the rest of the time.
Under the BC Security Services Act, an individual must hold a valid security worker licence to do security work, and a company must hold a security business licence to provide it. That applies to static guards and patrol officers alike. Licensed guards complete Basic Security Training through a provider such as the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), and you can check any licence yourself with the province's security licence status verification tool.
It's also worth being clear about what a patrol officer or static guard is not. Security officers are not police and don't have police powers. They observe, deter, report, enforce the property owner's rules on the owner's behalf, and call police and emergency services when needed. Any provider promising more than that is overselling.
At On Guard Security Ltd., every officer on a static post or a patrol route is licensed and JIBC-trained, and new officers complete a week of one-on-one training with a senior officer before working independently. We are WorkSafeBC compliant and fully insured.
From our Surrey office we provide static guards, mobile patrolling and hybrid plans across Surrey, Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Langley, Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley, with 24/7 support. Tell us about the property, the hours that worry you and anything that has already happened, and we'll recommend a format that matches the risk rather than the largest possible contract. See how our GPS-tracked patrol service works, call 778-990-5070, or request a free security consultation.
Mobile patrolling is a security service where a licensed officer drives a route covering several client properties and physically checks each one a set number of times per shift. At each visit the officer inspects doors, gates, lighting and the perimeter, deals with anyone who shouldn't be there on the owner's behalf, and logs what they found.
What does mobile patrol do?
A mobile patrol provides regular, unpredictable checks of a property without the cost of a full-time guard. Typical tasks are perimeter and door checks, lock-ups and unlocks, alarm response, looking for signs of break-in, leaks or fire hazards, asking trespassers to leave, and reporting every visit to the client.
What is a security patrol officer?
A security patrol officer is a licensed security worker who moves around one large property or between several properties, on foot or by vehicle, to inspect, deter and report. In BC, patrol officers need a valid security worker licence and work for a licensed security business. They are not police and do not have police powers.
What is the security patrol?
A security patrol is a planned series of inspections of a property by a security officer, either walking rounds on a single site or driving between sites. Its purpose is to deter trouble, catch problems early and create a record showing the property was checked and what was found.
What are the four types of patrols?
There is no single official list, and different sources group patrols differently. In private security, the formats you will most often see are foot patrols on a single site, vehicle or mobile patrols between sites, static or fixed-post coverage with internal rounds, and alarm response visits triggered by a monitored alarm.
What is the hourly rate of a security guard?
It depends on the site. Static guards are billed hourly per guard, and the rate moves with shift times, overnight and holiday hours, duties and contract length. Mobile patrols are usually billed per visit or as a monthly plan instead. We quote after understanding the property and the hours you need covered.
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