+4 Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Dji Asberry
Dji Asberry is new to security; she joined the industry in 2021 as a means to pay her bills. Standing in front of the Sketchers store on Powell Street, Asberry said she enjoys her job but hopes to start a career that matches her college degree. Asberry took science courses at Wiley College in Texas. | James Wyatt
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Arthur Cardenas
“It’s so lucrative to be security right now that I have to turn down jobs,” said Arthur Cardenas, who has been in the industry for 11 years and currently guards Arsicault Bakery in U.N. Plaza. Cardenas, who moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, said he was lured to San Francisco for better job opportunities and attractive wages. “I’m getting a lot of work because it’s becoming so dangerous,” Cardenas said. | James Wyatt
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Vejouhn Olson-Mariette
Vejouhn Olson-Mariette has been featured in action movies for her martial arts skills. Still, she prefers working security for Neiman Marcus because of the connection she makes with the community. “I’m never going to be famous in the movies but one day I’ll be famous in the community,” said Olson-Mariette. | James Wyatt
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Mashana Gaston
Mashana Gaston, a guard at MAC Cosmetics on Powell Street, has a long commute into work each morning from San Jose. “It’s been challenging because my daughter has to be at school at 8:00 a.m. and I have to be here at 9:30 a.m.,” said Gaston. She is new to the industry but said her job as a security guard provides her with a stable wage while she waits for construction work to pick up. | James Wyatt
Photo Gallery: Meet San Francisco’s Security Guards
Charles Alexander
Charles Alexander, who has worked as a security officer for the county of San Francisco for 30 years, used to live in the city until it became too expensive and now lives in Richmond. “When I first started here I thought, ‘Oh a library, nice quiet place.' I started fighting people my very first week,” said Alexander about his job as a guard for the San Francisco Public Library. | James Wyatt
Safety on the streets of downtown San Francisco is the subject of national news and local debate. Rampant retail theft, dirty sidewalks and drug dealers and their customers operating imperviously are among the woes afflicting the Tenderloin district and several nearby neighborhoods.
But for some there’s a silver lining to the crisis: jobs.
Security professionals told The Standard demand for protective services is up, fueled by a perceived increase in smash-and-grab robberies and other crimes unfolding in the public eye.
“We’re getting a lot of cold calls, new clients, new referrals,” said Herman Jones, a manager at Jones Protective Services, a local security outfit that employs around 30 people.
Yet hiring security guards is proving difficult in a “competitive” labor market, according to Delphine Skreen, director of compliance for Marina Security Services.
Skreen said that the firm raised its hourly pay from $18 to $19.50 during the pandemic in an effort to attract and retain talent. Now, with the labor shortage, “we work with what we can get,” said Skreen.
So who are San Francisco’s security guards? We scoured downtown and found an eclectic group. Some are young, some are women, some carry guns, some have dreams of other careers and some believe fervently in protecting the community.
Most commute from outside San Francisco—some from as far as San Jose—and have an array of professional experience ranging from one week to 30 years.
Click into our photo gallery to see the faces—and read the stories—of San Francisco’s guards.