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This is the header image for the BPS Security article titled, “Will Having Security Guards at Fraternity Parties Eliminate Drug and Sexual Abuse?”

Will Having Security Guards at Fraternity Parties Eliminate Drug and Sexual Abuse?

In October of 2021, The University of Southern California paused all fraternity activities on campus after reports of drug related sexual abuse involving multiple fraternities surfaced. Starting again in March, fraternity parties/gatherings will resume with one major stipulation — during a party, security guards must be stationed at every stairway and hallway inside the fraternity house that leads to bedrooms. So, will having security guards at fraternity parties make a difference? Unfortunately, we don’t think so!

Why Having Security Guards at Fraternity Parties Won’t Make an Impact

Financial Reasons

If the university and/or students hope that having security guards at fraternity parties will help decrease the drug and sexual abuse, they cannot choose a security firm based on price!

Fraternity parties (and similar events full of intoxicated teenagers and young 20 year olds) require very experienced, calm officers that can make good decisions, and intervene both with a timely manner and make appropriate choices. 

This is a closeup of a woman holding a cocktail in her left hand and a handful of pills in her right hand. This image is used in the BPS Security article titled, “Will Having Security Guards at Fraternity Parties Eliminate Drug and Sexual Abuse?”

This type of security guard will be highly trained and experienced, which comes with a price tag. (In security, you get what you pay for). The thing is, these types of parties get out of hand fast. It would be easy for any student to make false accusations against a guard, which can quickly ruin that officer’s career, pinning them with expensive lawsuits, and even potential jail time. Thus, inexperienced guards will not want to intervene. (Why would they ruin their lives for $12/hour?)

Additionally, in this environment, the officers must have body cams at all time with enough storage to record for the entire time they are on-site. This will keep the number of potential accusations against the security guards (and possibly the fraternity) to a minimum… especially if they indeed intervene and actually do their job! Unfortunately, when hiring a “cheap security guard”, these individuals are placed by security firms that do not typically dish out extra money for high-end body cams with a significant amount of storage.

Another piece of this puzzle is, due to the nature of fraternity parties, there really needs to be 1 guard for every 20 attendees. This is, yet again, expensive, and likely not something that the fraternities would be willing to pay for.

Different Party Locations

Think back to your teenage years and young twenties… when people told you “Don’t do that”, how often did you want to say, “Watch me!” It’s the nature of being young, cocky, and naive. That said, if the fraternities don’t want to have security guards at their parties, they’ll throw a party at a different location!
This is a photo of a sign reading “FRAT PARTY” drilled onto corrugated metal.. This image is used in the BPS Security article titled, “Will Having Security Guards at Fraternity Parties Eliminate Drug and Sexual Abuse?”
Here in San Antonio, over the years we receive requests to provide security for “children’s/teen’s birthday parties”. After a little research, we discover that labeling the get together as a “children’s/teen’s birthday party” is simply a coverup for a sorority party. (We always inform the venue, and their parties get canceled.) Again, if there is a will there is a way! These kids/young adults are going to figure out a work around, even if it gets them in trouble again, in a different way.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, this is a really tough situation. The reality is, drug related sexual abuse is a much larger issue that needs a hard-core intervention. This option (though it is good to see some concern and some kind of action taken) is just a band-aid that people hope will fix a very big problem. So, all in all, we do not believe that having security guards at fraternity parties will make much of a difference.
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