Many high-profile individuals will use a security detail to some degree when they are in public spaces. Maintaining that level of protection, however, can be a significant investment, often reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars.
The heightened attention regarding private security details comes after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during an event at a Utah college on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, SaferWatch, a security platform designed to enhance emergency response across public and private institutions, has seen a surge in inquiries from Fortune 500 companies looking to boost protection for their C-suite executives and families following after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in New York City in December by alleged shooter Luigi Mangione.
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And in a July 2025 incident in New York City, Wesley LePatner walked into 345 Park Avenue, home to the NFL, KPMG and Blackstone, killing four people before taking his own life.
SaferWatch CEO Geno Roefaro told FOX Business that security isn’t one-size-fits-all, meaning the type of security needed and the cost associated with that protection can vary to a significant degree.
“For some, it’s a single, trained professional,” he said. “For others, it’s a full team that travels, scouts venues and monitors threats,” he said, adding that the right solution depends on a person’s profile, risk and lifestyle.
While Roefaro said he doesn’t have particular knowledge of Kirk’s past and active threats, he noted that if they were common, it would typically require a “more day-to-day security bubble and reassessment.”
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To put the costs into perspective, Roefaro’s company estimated that executive security, which is different from a traditional basic security guard, can run a couple of hundred dollars per hour per executive security guard.
Top-notch armed security usually includes active or retired law enforcement or military members and can cost anywhere between $125 to $200 an hour depending on the daily schedule and the threat level of the individual being protected, according to Roefaro. Having an armored vehicle as part of the security bubble will also be a significant addition to the budget and can be hundreds of dollars a day to rent, he added.
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Bill Stanton, a former NYPD officer and security expert who handled security for Jackie Kennedy Onassis, John F. Kennedy Jr. and the Rockefellers, told FOX Business that “it’s not a cheap endeavor” even with just two people. A two-man “day rate” on average, depending upon various factors such as skill set and location, can start out between $3,000 and $5,000.
“To use a security detail, to potentially have prevented what happened, you would need at least a dozen agents, if not more on the assassination of Chirlie Kirk,” Stanton said.
Stanton said that professional security for a public figure will consist of a team that arrives days or weeks before an event to coordinate with local police or campus security. On the day of the event, there will be another bodyguard who stays close to the subject, while other team members manage broader protection.
A competent elite-level agent will cost roughly $250 per hour, which means if someone has a 10-man team, it would cost about $2,500 an hour and upward of $25,000 to $30,000 a day, according to Stanton.
“That becomes quite expensive. And that’s only one team,” he said.
Typically, that team must be relieved after a certain period, meaning there is often a rotation of 24 to 36 agents to cover everything from travel to home security.
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