Ten years ago, a paper sign-in sheet at the front desk was sufficient evidence that your guard was on-site. That era is over.
The Court Expectation Shift
Recent premises liability cases have established a clear trend: courts expect technology-backed evidence of guard presence. A handwritten log showing "Guard Smith arrived 22:00" is increasingly met with skepticism. A GPS-verified check-in with coordinates, timestamp, and accuracy radius? That's evidence.
How Geofenced Check-Ins Work
Geofencing creates a virtual boundary around your site. When a guard arrives and opens the app, the system checks their GPS coordinates against the geofence. If they're within the boundary:
- Timestamp is recorded automatically
- GPS coordinates are logged with accuracy data
- The check-in is linked to the guard's authenticated profile
- Supervisors receive real-time confirmation
If they're outside the geofence, the check-in is flagged — or blocked entirely, depending on your configuration.
Why This Matters For Liability
In a premises liability case, the plaintiff's attorney will always ask: "Can you prove your guard was actually at the location when this happened?"
With paper logs, the answer is a shaky "our guard says so." With GPS verification, the answer is "here's the satellite-verified coordinate data, timestamped to the second."
Privacy Done Right
Guard GPS tracking raises legitimate privacy concerns. The right approach:
- Only track during shift hours — no off-duty surveillance
- Transparent policy — guards know exactly when and how location is used
- Geofence-only, not continuous — check-in/check-out points, not real-time tracking between stops
- Clear data retention policies — location data has a defined lifecycle
GPS accountability isn't about distrusting your guards. It's about giving them — and your company — verifiable proof that the job was done right.