Ten days ago, Shelby County entered Phase 1 of reopening. Restaurants on Beale Street started seating customers at half capacity. Retail shops along Poplar Avenue unlocked their doors with new rules taped to the glass. And security guards across Memphis found themselves holding infrared thermometers instead of flashlights.
Nobody trained for this.
While Tennessee’s 89 other counties got a head start on May 1, Shelby County waited. The Memphis and Shelby County Health Department kept restrictions in place longer than most of the state, citing infection rates that made the governor’s timeline feel reckless. When Phase 1 finally arrived on May 11, it came with a thick stack of guidelines that business owners were expected to follow. Somebody had to enforce those guidelines. That somebody, it turns out, is the security guard standing at the front door.
Thermometers, Masks, and a Whole Lot of Attitude
I spent last week talking to security company owners and site supervisors around Memphis. The picture they painted isn’t pretty.
“My guys signed up to watch cameras and walk parking lots,” said one operations manager at a firm covering several Midtown retail locations. He asked me not to use his name. “Now I’m asking them to point a thermometer at somebody’s forehead and tell them they can’t come in if they have a fever. That’s a different job.”
He’s right. It is a different job. And the transition has been ugly.
The Health Department guidelines require businesses to screen employees and, in many cases, customers for symptoms. Occupancy limits are strict. Restaurants can seat 50 percent capacity. Retail stores have their own caps based on square footage. Someone has to stand at the door and count heads. Someone has to tell the 51st person they need to wait outside.
Security companies are filling that role because nobody else wants it.
The Mask Problem
Here’s where things get tense. Memphis doesn’t have a formal mask mandate as of this writing, and that creates a gray area that security guards are navigating every single shift. Some businesses require masks. Some recommend them. Some leave it up to customers entirely.
Guards are caught in the middle.
“I had a guy at a grocery store on Summer Avenue almost get into a fistfight Tuesday because he asked a customer to put on a mask,” one company owner told me. “The customer said it was his constitutional right. My guard said it was store policy. It went downhill from there.”
This kind of confrontation isn’t what most security professionals are trained to handle. Traditional security work in Memphis means access control, patrol, maybe dealing with shoplifters or trespassers. The scenarios are familiar. The responses are practiced. Telling a grown man he needs to cover his face before entering a Kroger? That’s new territory, and the training materials don’t exist yet because the situation didn’t exist three months ago.
Retraining on the Fly
The bigger security firms in Memphis are scrambling to put together training programs. I talked to three companies this week that have created COVID-specific modules for their guards. The content covers de-escalation techniques for mask confrontations, proper use of no-contact thermometers, occupancy tracking procedures, and basic infection control.
One firm based near the airport told me they’ve been running two-hour sessions every morning before shifts. They’re pulling guards in early, paying overtime, and hoping the lessons stick. The smaller companies — and Memphis has dozens of them — don’t have that kind of budget. Their approach is more like “here’s the thermometer, here’s where you stand, good luck.”
That gap between large and small operators is going to widen fast if Phase 2 brings more businesses online.
Guards Are Quitting
Turnover in Memphis security was already a problem before COVID-19. The pay isn’t great. Most armed guards in Shelby County make between $12 and $16 an hour. Unarmed guards make less. The work is often boring, sometimes dangerous, and rarely appreciated.
Now add the risk of catching a respiratory virus from the hundreds of people you’re screening every day. Add the daily confrontations with angry customers who don’t want to wear a mask. Add the confusion about what rules even apply, since guidelines seem to change weekly.
Some guards are walking away.
“I’ve lost six people since May 1,” said the owner of a small firm that covers three restaurant locations in East Memphis. “Two of them told me straight up they don’t want to be the mask police. The other four just stopped showing up.”
Recruiting replacements is its own nightmare. The state licensing process through the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance hasn’t exactly sped up during the pandemic. Background checks are backlogged. Training classes that were held in person are now trying to move online. New applicants are trickling in, not flooding.
What MPD Says
Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings addressed the reopening at a press conference last week. He acknowledged that businesses are struggling with enforcement and said MPD would support them, though he stopped short of saying officers would enforce mask policies at private businesses.
That leaves security companies holding the bag.
Rallings emphasized community cooperation. He asked Memphis residents to follow the guidelines voluntarily, to be patient with workers and guards trying to do their jobs. It was a reasonable ask. Whether Memphis listens is another question.
The Money Side
There is one bright spot in all of this, if you want to call it that. Demand for security services is up. Way up.
Businesses that never hired security before are calling around looking for guards. Restaurants want someone at the door. Retail stores want occupancy monitors. Office buildings want temperature screeners in the lobby. Medical offices along Humphreys Boulevard want someone ensuring patients don’t crowd waiting rooms.
One company owner told me his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since May 11. “I could fill 40 posts tomorrow if I had the bodies,” he said. “I don’t have the bodies.”
That supply-and-demand imbalance is pushing contract rates higher. Guards who were billing at $18 an hour are now going for $22 or $24. Armed guards are pulling even more. For companies that can staff up, the revenue opportunity is real.
The ones that can’t staff up are turning away business and watching competitors scoop it.
What Happens Next
Phase 2 could arrive in Shelby County within weeks if infection numbers cooperate. That means gyms, entertainment venues, and larger gatherings. Each of those categories brings its own security headaches. Imagine being the guard at a gym who has to enforce social distancing between treadmills. Or the one working a 250-person event that’s supposed to be capped at 50 percent capacity.
The security industry in Memphis wasn’t built for pandemic enforcement. It was built for crime deterrence, property protection, and access control. COVID-19 has bolted on an entirely new set of responsibilities, and the industry is absorbing them in real time with minimal guidance.
Some companies will adapt. They’ll build training programs, hire the right people, and figure out how to handle mask confrontations without losing guards or clients. Others will struggle, lose staff, and shrink.
The reopening was supposed to be good news. For Memphis security companies, it’s good news wrapped in a set of problems nobody saw coming.
I’ll be tracking how the industry adapts as phases continue. If you’re a security company owner in Memphis dealing with these issues, I want to hear from you. Drop me a line at the email below.
Marcus Johnson covers the Memphis security industry. He’s been reporting on private security, law enforcement, and public safety in the Mid-South for over a decade.