Apple paid $1.2M to privately hire police to protect its San Francisco stores – Wired
Source: 9to5Mac
A new report says Apple paid more than $1.2 million in one year to privately hire police to protect three of its San Francisco retail stores. The payment was made through a private security company.
San Francisco allows private companies to pay police officers to protect their shops and offices, and many tech companies take advantage of this.
A Wired report says this practice is commonplace in San Francisco. The contracting program, known locally as 10B, is the section of the city code authorizing it. Any person, company, or organization that desires extra personnel or equipment for “law‑enforcement purposes” can request “such personnel to perform such services,” provided the police chief signs off. Under the law, companies pay the same hourly rates for officers that the city would.
Tech companies are big customers, including Apple. Airbnb, for example, spent roughly $428,443 for the presence of uniformed, armed officers in 2024, the most recent year for which complete data was received. Salesforce shelled out about $727,907 through a security vendor.
The firm Security Industry Specialists paid over $1.2 million in 2024 for what police records described as coverage at three Apple stores, making it the year’s second‑largest customer.
The practice isn’t limited to California; Wired reports that around 80 % of police departments across the U.S. allow officers to moonlight as private security.
There are conflicting views on the practice. Some argue it creates potential conflicts of interest and can leave officers too tired to perform their primary role effectively. Others argue it puts more uniformed police on the streets at no cost to taxpayers.