I know it sounds absurd. And it’s a bit strange to derive any ideas about American society from superhero movies, but still: In every superhero movie, there is this villainous corporation that wants to control, kill, or abuse the main hero. The main characters do this with the help of an army of security guards working for them. I just saw “Max Steel’ and they have everything there: black SUVs, lots of ex-army personnel with M16s, etc.
Do big companies in the US have anything at least remotely resembling that? Or is it all just a media conceit? (YES, I know superheroes aren’t real).
37 comments
I don’t know how realistic that is. Maybe a defense contractor would have that at some secret locations?
I worked for a huge American tech company. They had the equivalent of mall cops as security and I would hardly ever see them.
No, never. They’re not always just mall-like rent-a-cops, but their main job is to monitor and deter people. If real trouble happens, they call the police.
They don’t. If operating in a banana republic they may hire security forces, but companies cannot send their own militaries around the US like in movies.
You’ll note those movies are always dystopian in nature. (Like all superhero movies are)
> And it’s a bit strange to derive any ideas about American society from superhero movies…
You’ve already answered your own question.
Generally no as it’s normally illegal for any type of security guard to touch or attempt to restrain someone.
There are armed security officer positions but that’s not going to come with something like an M16 and military grade equipment.
9 mm semi-automatic pistol and a bulletproof vest is about the max you’re going to see.
I work for one company that issued and bulletproof vests and 38 caliber six shot revolvers. You carry two speed loaders on your person for a total of 18 rounds.
Most companies, no. Rent-a-cop at best.
Some companies do really serious stuff. Private companies run nuclear plants, for example, you can bet your ass after 9/11 they got an upgrade.
The only one I’ve ever seen that had a security force similar to what you describe is the nuclear station near where I grew up.
private security does exist, but it’s not like you see in the movies.
There are some cases of the private paramilitary security, though. For example, the railroads have their own police departments that are employed by the railroads but deputized by the states. Canada has a similar system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_police
The Pinkertons also used to be like this like in the 1800s, but they aren’t anymore. In general, private security forces have very limited legal rights except like in the above railroad example, where the law gives the railroads the right to administer a police force within 500 yards of the railroad.
No haha
The only thing I can think that would be similar is the security guards in Washington DC.
I’ve worked at big corporations. Security is usually someone in a uniform who walks around, makes sure doors are locked, and maybe drives through the parking lot a few times a day. One place they had security check badges on the way in, but that was a financial place that had actual security requirements.
Night At The Museum would give you a more realistic portrayal of corporate security forces than Max Steel, and it has talking museum exhibits.
The only companies operating paramilitary security forces will be Defense Contractors, Nuclear Power Companies, etc. The reason for this is that security forces require the security clearances to be in the presence of areas of the business per federal law so there isn’t really an option to use local SWAT or police forces.
This also means that such companies also tend to have an on site medical staff and firefighters as well.
You get paramilitary security for things that are intrinsically dangerous or high value. It’s usually not a lot, or more often it’s just a few guys with assault rifles and a SUV or two.
Like there’s not a realistic scenario that Amazon is going to get in a pitched firefight that needs a few dozen dudes with machine guns to handle, but there’s a need to keep some wackjob with an AK-47 and bundle of TNT out of a nuclear powerplant. In this context the job of the better armed security guys is to be that kind of delaying function to let law enforcement arrive in number vs again, 50 ex-DELTA SEALs that the protagonist has to fight through.
in a very few cases, companies with high-profile leaders who receive streams of threats of violence, kidnapping, etc. have serious private security forces. These are mostly in the tech sector; you can imagine who the household-name targets might be. But the security strategy is very discreet, borderline invisible, and nothing like a “paramilitary” force from a fantasy video game.
High-end security is going to be outsourced to a Private Military Company or PMC that specializes in international paramilitary security operations. Think the men and women that protected capital assets in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Typically, they don’t operate like these domestically due to liability and cost issues.
It’s honestly just easier to donate to a Sheriff’s campaign or make a corporate donation to a police union to get better responses if needed.
[This is a far better example of what security personnel within a company does.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-UljTDys8I) Employee IDs, making sure security and safety guidelines are followed, maybe delve into loss prevention if there isn’t a formal loss prevention department.
Henchmen? Those corporate paramilitary characters are henchmen.
No, those aren’t real life.
Wait, they made a movie out of that bad CGI TV show from like 25 years ago?
13 year old me loved that terrible show. Now I want to see it.
The only time I’ve ever seen security is for state buildings and such, and that’s usually just a straight up cop who checks ID badges at the front.
If a company is large enough to have private security, it’s usually just someone in a security outfit who tells you to leave the property if you’re problematic or trespassing, and they can call the cops if necessary. But, as far as I am aware, they don’t carry weapons and are not allowed to attack you for any reason. I’m sure there’s exceptions but it’d be news to me.
It’s questions like this that keeps me from telling people I post on Reddit.
Not at all. Private armies are not really something allowed on US soil. They have security and said security can wear bulletproof vests (but rarely do) and can carry things like pistols, but they do not have full military kit.
I work in corporate security and specifically I work for a large oil and gas company that does business in a lot of dangerous countries. The answer is: no. For places where we need armed security we either contract it out – there are providers that do have armed paramilitary guys – or more commonly rely on host government security forces. Like, for corrupt or non-corrupt reasons governments tend to value resource extraction operations in their country and will often help out with their troops.
Most Americans have very little understanding of corporate structures and oversight and are at least somewhat aware of money laundering, so the idea that a company with moderate security needs (maybe some import and export of expensive goods) or ownership of a rent-a-cop or even mercenary company could hide a much larger force behind that modest office has enough plausibility for suspension of disbelief.
Also, the stereotypical megacorp is hilariously international, so it’s easy enough to hand-wave the paramilitary as being from the company’s Somalia office (which is actually just a PO box).
No. And basically corporate security falls into 3 buckets.
1. Security guards. Basically an entry level job. Unarmed usually. Maybe a taser or mace. Maybe. Very often outsourced to a security company. Often manning the front desk or in a guard shack at the entrance.
2. Corporate security. This is a corporate function and professional level. Often former police or military are in these roles. But it’s not a paramilitary anything. It’s mostly focused around loss prevention and occasionally partners with HR on investigations that’s involve a crime. May also focus on strategic planning for any security measures.
3. The newest group. Cyber security teams. These folks are not usually part of the security function – as the role is more IT focused. But a lot of very important activity happens here. They’re in charge of protecting systems and data from malicious threats. And frankly the risk these teams help manage is far more costly than theft. Remember the Colonial pipeline ransomware attack from a few years ago? That’s an example of one of the things the cybersecurity teams are hopefully preventing.
Not common, but there are large companies that own stakes in private mercenary companies. I couldn’t find it but I remember a large agricultural company buying Blackwater many years ago. Apparently Blackwater changed its name and is owned by a private investor group now.
It’s not typical at all.
> black SUVs, lots of ex-army personnel with M16s, etc.
The only place you will see anything resembling that are defense contractors working on secret stuff. Even then it’s way more hidden than hollywood makes it out to be. If you’re ever at one of those facilities most of the armed security personnel only carry a pistol, and are uniformed. Occasionally the perimeter guards may have a rifle.
But other than that you will never see anything beyond uniformed guards with pistols, and that’s only at the most secure facilities.
That’s what the police are for. Historically our police have have worked for and with large companies as security or a private military. Organizations like the Pinkerton’s have done this sort or work too.
Basically why would they pay for a paramilitary when the existing taxpayer funded police do nearly everything they need anyway.
I have heard that Disney Land has some kind of counterterrorism security team, which is probably as close to paramilitary as it would get. I imagine that a lot of businesses that involve huge crowds of people may have something similar (like major sports teams and other huge theme parks).
Not, at least not when we’re talking operations in the US.
Exceptions I can think of:
– Stuff with extreme security considerations. Nuclear plants, military contractors at their most sensitive facilities, etc would likely employ or contract heavily armed site security, and may have some kind of government authorization to use force on their property in a way that private entities usually couldn’t. Armored car services for moving money/valuables also obviously have armed security.
– Private military companies exist with a pretty significant amount of stuff….but they tend to exist to handle contracts with the US government or other nation-states, and aren’t allowed to just roam around the country being threatening or something. [Draken Int’l](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draken_International) for example owns a larger air force than many countries.
– If you’re really important and/or going somewhere really risky (outside the US), it’s pretty likely the company is taking out some hefty executive protection contracts, and kidnap + ransom insurance. It could very well be that if you have some mining operation in some not particularly stable African country, that any execs visiting it only travel in an armored convoy. But that’s very much not a thing *here*, and those people probably aren’t under the direct employ of the company over there.
– The resume for one of the groups I know of that “handles” incidents under said insurance basically reads like a cross of the CIA + a special forces team for who they employ, and also has this line: “If necessary, we are prepared to employ unconventional extraction methodologies.”
Only things I can think of that have armed guards that are not law enforcement are armored trucks and defense contractor companies but that is also as that is literally what their businesses are about. Most corporate security just checks locks and rides around in golf cart telling people not to park by the building if they don’t have a parking pass.
They don’t. It would be really bizarre to see this. It sounds like something out of Cyberpunk.
We call them rent-a-cops. They have very little power and often just look intimidating. However, there are situations (in Portland they’re called Business Improvement District Zones) where private police operate in lieu of the public police with even less oversight.
I think it’s going away though with police forces accepting donations for extra patrols of areas that pay. Having rent-a-cops is redundant when you can get the real thing. Unless of course, you want some *really* unaccountable jackboots like the BID zones in Portland.
I work for a multinational corporation at a multi-billion dollar plant with a security team. Our people can barely handle a flashlight and get winded standing up out of their chairs
The only large paramilitary force in the US that I know of are the 3,000 or so that guard nuclear weapon facilities and that protect shipments of nuclear weapons grade materials. But they work for the Department of Energy (who controls the US nuclear stockpile), so technically [part of the government.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Protective_Forces)
Closest you’ll get to this are companies that contract with PMCs to provide armed security for overseas operations in high-risk areas. Even then, armed security only accounts for about 25% of all contracts that PMCs receive. Most PMC work is actually just unarmed security (regular security guards), consulting, staff training, and risk assessment.
And these sort of armed security contracts are very rare, basically unheard of, within the continental US. Closest you’ll get to those are companies that hire off-duty cops for security, but even then they’re still just doing regular unarmed security work — only difference is they wear a police uniform while doing it.
Wildest thing you might see within the US itself is a celebrity or high-level corporate executive that has an ex-secret service agent as a bodyguard.
Movies and TV are not real life.
My sister dated a guy in high school who’s dad worked for Union Pacific, a major railroad company. He told anstory of a time that a security guard finally allowed him to see what’s behind the heavily-guarded armored door at their national headquarters; it was an armory stocked with AR-15s and probably many other weapons. Probably thousands of rounds of ammunition.
UP basically has its own paramilitary force. Because their rail systems are so vital to our nation’s commerce, security, and industry, they have to be prepared to defend against a full-scale assault from terrorists or a military force.
This is not the norm. But I can pretty much guarantee that there are similar safeguards in place to make sure that Google, AWS, Microsoft, power/water/gas companies, and Tier 1 IP Networks stay safe and secure.