- Recent Trends in Holiday Security
- Best Practices for Holiday Event Security
- Will Additional Guards be Needed?
- When to Secure Your Guards
- Contact The Guard Alliance
The 2025 holiday season is approaching quickly. For most of us, anticipation is growing as we look forward to celebrating with loved ones. For America’s event venues, houses of worship, schools, and civic spaces, planners are bracing for some challenging weeks ahead. Escalating security threats over the course of this year, coupled with the annual surge during the holidays, will make this December one of the most challenging event security environments in recent memory.
We’ve put together this short read to provide some essential best practices for holiday event security. Perhaps more importantly, we wanted to circulate this to remind folks in our network to book their guards early. By December 15, it may be quite difficult to secure guards, given the expected demand nationwide.
Recent Trends in Holiday Security
In 2025, Americans have unfortunately witnessed multiple high-profile instances of compromised security and the consequences that follow. Each month this year, we’ve seen an increasing number of event planners, houses of worship, and schools deploying additional guards to ensure the safety of folks in their care.
In the weeks ahead, we anticipate that this trend will be compounded by the year-over-year increase in demand for guards during the holiday season. Retail and event spaces will undoubtedly have security teams in place already, but may yet find themselves in need of last-minute roster additions.
It’s not just The Guard Alliance noticing this trend, either. We are looking at stories from across the country that point to record demand for security and fire watch guards in the weeks ahead. Here are just a few that have popped up on our radar:
Atlanta, GA
Back in July, the Atlanta Police Department outlined its most robust holiday response plan to date for Independence Day. The plan included hundreds of vehicle barriers, undercover officers participating in public events, and a central command center monitoring thousands of cameras.
This layered response from Atlanta PD shows that holiday event security is no longer just about extra staff—it’s about anticipating vehicle threats, crowd volumes, and coordination across agencies. Large organizations and events should follow this approach and anticipate dynamic security threats for the 2025 holiday season.
Denver, CO
During the 2024 holiday season, the Transportation Security Administration reported over a million passengers passing through the Denver International Airport checkpoint. Travel volume has more than bounced back from COVID lows, and everyone should anticipate 2025 to be a record-setting year for travel volume.
Event spaces and hotels in major travel corridors should add security to match the increased volume. Whatever worked in 2024, you should expect to supplement in the weeks ahead.
Oakland, CA
Oakland is next door to our Bay Area HQ, and we operate many sites in the area. Each year, there is an inevitable uptick in event security requirements in December, and we expect more of this in 2025. Again, using the Fourth of July as a recent holiday example, this year saw a 5x increase in the number of reported fires during that long weekend. Our local requests at the time peaked in response—both for armed/unarmed security, and for fire watch patrols.
If you are planning an event in an area that experiences spikes in crime or arson, be sure to add security guards to your team to safeguard everyone on site.
Each of these snapshots shows a shifting baseline: holiday events are bigger, more complex, and more exposed to multi-vector risks (from vehicle incursions to crowd stampedes, from fireworks and fire risks to active-assailant threats). It means that security strategies for holidays cannot simply “scale up normal operations”—they must be purpose‑built for the unique convergence of high volume, elevated emotions, and festive chaos.
Best Practices for Holiday Event Security
By no means exhaustive, here is our quick guide on best practices for safeguarding events this holiday season. Be sure to review your existing risk management literature and check with your local police department for any region-specific tips.
Pre‑Event Risk Assessment
Before any guards are deployed, conduct a detailed assessment: venue layout, expected attendance, historical incident data, transport/drop‑off flows, vehicle access, weather/lighting conditions, vendor/staff movement. Consultant frameworks emphasize that holiday events need specific threat analyses (e.g., increased alcohol, festive décor, larger crowds), not just routine checks.
Secure Vendor & Stakeholder Coordination
Engage all vendors (caterers, decorators, entertainers), transport partners (ride-share, valet, parking), and the venue operations team early on. Ensure they understand guest flow plans, security zones, bag/backpack screening, emergency routes, and the role of the guards. Holiday events often have more moving parts, more external contractors, and greater complexity in roles.
Deploy Trained Security Guards with Defined Roles
Security guards must be briefed and trained for the specific holiday context, including crowd control in celebratory mode, managing intoxicated attendee behavior, monitoring vehicle barriers, conducting bag/backpack screenings, communicating with law enforcement liaisons, and ensuring evacuation awareness. Assign supervisors, establish shift rotations, and clearly delineate roles (entrance screening, patrolling, VIP area monitoring, parking/ride‑share zones).
Layer Physical & Technological Safeguards
Combine physical controls (vehicle barriers, bollards, bag checks, metal detector wands) with technological monitoring (CCTV, drones/aerial surveillance, command center coordination). For instance, Atlanta PD’s use of vehicle barriers and undercover runners highlights the need for proactive rather than reactive measures.
Traffic, Pedestrian & Drop‑Off Management
With holiday events, traffic and pedestrian flows multiply: ride‑shares, volunteers, attendees arriving non‑locally, parking overflow. Plan and secure dedicated drop-off/pick-up zones that are separated from pedestrian zones. Maintain emergency vehicle access lanes open, staff parking entry/exit with guards, and monitor transit hubs used by attendees.
Emergency Response & Incident Protocols
Implement clear incident response plans, including an escalation tree, guard communication channels (radios/mobile devices), deputy/supervisor call-out procedures, law enforcement liaison, medical/first aid support, evacuation routes, muster points, and backup communication systems. Conduct a short simulation or walkthrough with staff/guards before the event. After the event, conduct a debrief and record the lessons learned.
Continuous Guard Monitoring, Guest‑Experience Balance & Behavioral Awareness
Guards should not just monitor — they must engage, greet, and assist attendees, which builds goodwill and helps spot suspicious behaviour. For example: friendly patrols, clear signage and wayfinding, queue management, monitoring of intoxicated guest zones, and ensuring access control doesn’t degrade the guest experience. Crowd behaviour cues (such as loitering and restricted zone breaches) deserve guard focus.
Post‑Event Review, Data Logging & Vendor/Guard Assessment
Once the event ends, compile guard logs (including interventions, incidents, and near-misses), review staffing adequacy, evaluate vendor/staff performance (including decor, parking, and ride-share coordination), gather attendee feedback on perceived safety, and update your security plan template for the following year. Use insights to adjust guard‑staffing levels, technology deployment, vendor contracts, and budget forward.
Will Additional Guards Be Needed?
For holiday events, one of the most common miscalculations is understaffing the guard team. Many event planners assume “we had X guards last year, so we’ll use X again”—but holiday seasons change year‑to‑year (larger crowds, different flow patterns, heightened media attention, transport/ride‑share bottlenecks). 2025 is shaping up to be a doozy…
Security guards are the frontline of your entire security ecosystem — they interact with guests, manage entry points, monitor crowd behavior, support emergency response and link with law enforcement. If the guard team is insufficient, any other investment (such as CCTV, barriers, or technology) may falter in real-world execution.
Ask specific questions to assess how many guards you may need:
- What is the expected number of attendees, and how many peak‑hour attendees will pass through per hour?
- How many entry points, ride‑share/drop‑off zones, VIP zones, auxiliary vendor/service zones do we have?
- What is the ratio of guests‑to‑guards for crowd control in similar events (industry benchmarks suggest often one guard per 100–200 attendees for open‑access events, fewer for controlled‑entry high‑risk events)?
- What are the “weak zones” (parking lots, transit drop‑off, service‑vendor areas) that may need extra roaming guards?
- Do we have surge capacity — i.e., can we call in additional guards at the last minute if a transport delay or weather event unexpectedly increases foot traffic?
To prevent surprises, it’s best practice to engage a security vendor or guard provider who has a flexible pool of guards for your city so you’re not locked in with a fixed number months out. Building a “reserve pool” makes your security staffing resilient.
In short, assume you will need more guards than your “standard event” level. The holiday season is a higher‑risk, higher‑complexity period; planning for extra guards is budgeting for resilience, not excess.
When to Secure Your Guards
Lead‑times matter—especially during holiday seasons when guard staffing is under pressure. Staffing tends to be stretched: guards may have commitments for multiple events, seasonal overtime may raise costs, and agencies might run low on available certified personnel.
Key timing considerations:
- Book early: As soon as your event date is confirmed, engage your security guard provider. That locks in your numbers, shift patterns, and roles.
- Factor in staffing attrition: The holiday season may coincide with other major festivals, corporate year-end parties, and travel events — so guard availability is constrained. Secure the “core team” well ahead, then maintain a standby list.
- Plan for late December: If your holiday event falls within the span of mid-November to late December (when many organisations host end-of-year celebrations), recognise that many guard firms will have multiple simultaneous contracts. Compete early.
- Guard training & briefing: Holiday events often have new themes (festive décor, unfamiliar vendor layouts, higher intoxication risk). Schedule your guard briefing/training 1–2 weeks prior, and ensure all roles/communications are locked.
- Allowance for surge staffing: Identify from your vendor a “surge team” of additional guards who can be mobilised if needed (for example, if attendance spikes, or if weather causes a change in venue layout).
By securing your guards now, you avoid the last‑minute scramble where fewer guards are available and rates may escalate. Treat your guard deployment decision as central to your event budget and timeline—not an afterthought.
Contact The Guard Alliance
The Guard Alliance excels at same-day deployments—even during peak periods. Our guards operate 24/7/365 and will be ready to deploy through December, providing armed, unarmed, vehicle patrol, or fire watch security services as needed.
Even so, we highly recommend that event planners be proactive: book your December guards early to avoid coverage gaps and peak pricing. Contact us today to start reviewing your options.
