Select Patrol Transitions to Less-Lethal Weapons

As of February 18th, Select Patrol employees no longer carry firearms on duty. With myself excluded, all previously armed employees may continue to carry less lethal defense weapons such as pepper spray, batons and Taser guns.

I had begun to phase out firearms last year. But the process was hastened by my worker's compensation carrier who has excluded coverage for armed employees.I had anticipated this move for some time based upon my own experiences and what I saw as a growing trend among other private patrol services who had transitioned away from firearms. For myself, I found there had been a clear shift in attitude towards firearms over the past decade. Requests for armed security officers declined and objections to guns, by clients, grew. Added to that were the cost prohibitive factors such as the apartment complex in Echo Park which required Select Patrol to increase its general liability coverage from $2,000,000.00 to $5,000,000.00 solely because my employees were armed.
Finally, there was the fact that in 26 years of operation no Select Patrol employee had been involved in a shooting incident. This is due in no small part to the scope of the officer's duties and the degree to which I allow my employees to directly involve themselves in situations they encounter on the job. To those who may now wonder how this may affect the ability to my staff to protect Select Patrol clients, I can assure you that our operations have not been affected in any way. We shall continue to do the job as we always have..