Who covers a property in Franklin County when the nearest officer is a town away? That is the first question we hear from owners and managers here. Franklin County is the least populous county on the Massachusetts mainland, with 70,698 residents spread over 699 square miles (U.S. Census Bureau, July 1, 2025 estimate). Greenfield is the traditional county seat and the largest community.

Interstate 91 runs north through Whately, Deerfield and Greenfield to the Vermont line. Route 2, the Mohawk Trail, crosses east to west from Orange to Charlemont. Hub Security and Investigative Group provides Franklin County security guard services along both corridors and in the hill towns between them.

The county has not had its own government since 1997. The Franklin County Commission voted itself out of existence, and state agencies took over its duties. Towns now share services through the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. For property owners, that means security is a local, site-by-site decision. The work ranges from a Greenfield storefront to a mill building on the Connecticut River to a ski resort parking lot. Hub plans each post for the property in front of us, not for a template.

Know the communities we cover in Franklin County

Franklin County has 26 towns, and Hub provides Franklin County security guard services in all of them. Four of the larger communities have their own pages, linked below, and the remaining towns are covered from this page. This is a service area, not a client list. If your town is here, we can quote it.

Greenfield, the county seat and home of Greenfield Community College and Baystate Franklin Medical Center
Montague, including the village of Turners Falls
Orange, at the eastern end of the Mohawk Trail
Deerfield, home of Historic Deerfield and the South Deerfield business district
Ashfield
Bernardston, where I-91 meets Route 5 and Route 10 before the Vermont line
Buckland
Charlemont, home of Berkshire East Mountain Resort and Zoar Outdoor
Colrain
Conway
Erving
Gill, home of the Northfield Mount Hermon School campus
Hawley
Heath
Leverett
Leyden
Monroe, site of Crum Hill, the county’s highest point
New Salem, the county’s largest town by area
Northfield
Rowe
Shelburne, including Shelburne Falls and the Bridge of Flowers
Shutesbury
Sunderland
Warwick
Wendell
Whately

Match Franklin County security guard services to the property

What does Franklin County security guard services actually look like? It depends on what you own. The county’s work falls into a few clear groups, and each one calls for a different plan. Below are the four we see most often, with the Hub services that fit each.

Cover the fairgrounds, the slopes and the river

Crowds in Franklin County come in seasons. The Franklin County Fair in Greenfield dates to an 1848 cattle show and fills the fairgrounds each September. Berkshire East in Charlemont runs skiing and tubing in winter. In summer it switches to rafting, zip lines, mountain biking and a mountain coaster. Zoar Outdoor, across the street, has run river trips since 1989. The Mohawk Trail brings leaf-season traffic through Shelburne Falls and the Bridge of Flowers.

Historic Deerfield draws visitors to its eleven house museums. That is how Franklin County security works in the small towns too.

Seasonal crowds need seasonal Franklin County security guard services, planned around the calendar rather than a fixed contract. Hub offers event security for a single weekend or a whole season. Officers can handle gates, parking fields, vendor rows and overnight grounds watch. New hires complete Crowd Manager certification through the MA Department of Fire Services, plus CPR, First Aid and Narcan training.

For a resort or outfitter, we can also set up mobile patrol of lots and rental barns after closing. You do not need a year-round contract to get this. Hub covers summer-only and single-event work. That training goes to every Franklin County security event we staff. A GPS-tracked route is the most common Franklin County security request from owners of several small properties.

Watch the hospital, the college and the campus

Greenfield holds the county’s main institutions. Baystate Franklin Medical Center is an 89-bed community hospital with 24-hour emergency services. Greenfield Community College has its main campus on College Drive and a second location on Main Street. Northfield Mount Hermon School sits on a campus in Gill. Deerfield Academy anchors Old Deerfield. Each of these institutions operates around the clock or close to it, and each has parking lots, entrances and a steady flow of visitors to manage.

Hub provides unarmed security guards for front desks, lobbies and parking areas. We also offer college campus security and parking enforcement. Where a risk review calls for it, armed security guards are available, with the firearm visible or concealed at your choice. Every armed guard carries an unrestricted Massachusetts License to Carry. A security risk assessment is the right first step for any campus or clinic. Most Franklin County security posts are unarmed. It is the cheapest Franklin County security decision you will make.

Secure the mills, the farms and the job sites

Franklin County built itself on water power. Turners Falls grew up around the falls on the Connecticut River, and the valley still holds some of the most productive farmland in the region. Farm and factory jobs have declined for decades, though, and that leaves older industrial buildings sitting empty or in transition. Yankee Candle’s South Deerfield base is still a major presence. Along I-91 and Route 2, new construction and renovation projects come and go.

Empty buildings and open job sites generate the most calls for Franklin County security guard services, because both are easy targets for theft and vandalism. Hub offers construction site security for materials, equipment and after-hours access. We provide fire watch when a sprinkler or alarm system is down and the fire department requires a posted watch. For a vacant mill or warehouse, GPS-tracked mobile patrol is often the better value.

The officer checks the building on a set route and scans each checkpoint to prove it was walked. Farm stands and agri-tourism sites can use the same patrol model during the fall rush. Fire watch is the Franklin County security job that arrives with the least notice.

Protect Main Street and the people behind it

Downtown Greenfield, Turners Falls, Shelburne Falls and Orange each have a walkable business district. Small shops, banks, restaurants and offices share a few blocks. They face the same issues as any downtown: shoplifting, after-hours break-ins and trouble in the lots. Hub provides retail security for stores and plazas, from a visible floor presence to loss-prevention support. For a plaza or downtown block, Franklin County security guard services usually combine a daytime presence with an evening patrol of the lots.

Some problems are not solved by a guard at the door. Hub also runs private investigation services in Franklin County: background checks, CORI checks, surveillance, process serving and workplace cases. The same company license covers security and investigation work, so one call reaches both.

Plan the post before the first shift

How does Hub set up Franklin County security guard services when the site may be an hour from the nearest city? The answer is the same process we use everywhere, done in person. Here are the steps.

Walk the property. An operations lead tours the site with you and plans where officers stand, patrol and check in.
Photograph the key points. We shoot entrances, check-in spots and problem areas, and record them in a post-orders book kept on site. Officers never have to guess what the post requires.
Set the checkpoints. Officers scan a tag at each door or station. The scan records that the point was walked and the time.
Track the patrols. Mobile patrol vehicles are GPS tracked, so you can see the route was run.
Staff the dispatch line. Hub’s dispatch is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so a call from Rowe at 2 a.m. gets the same answer as a call from Greenfield at noon.
Start quickly. New accounts are matched with a guard within 24 to 48 hours of an approved quote.

A few more facts matter to anyone signing a contract. Hub does not use subcontractors. Every officer is a Hub employee, run through a background check and vetted. The company carries $3 million in general liability insurance. Hub was founded in 2004 by police officers, and the founders remain with the company as consultants. I visit sites unannounced as Operations Manager. That is how we know the post orders are being followed. Ask for both documents before you sign any Franklin County security contract.

Check the license

Hub Security and Investigative Group operates under Private Detective Firm License #LP0203L, licensed through the Massachusetts State Police Certification Unit, which covers both security and private investigation work. The license belongs to the company. Hub works only in Massachusetts.

Answer the common questions

Can Hub cover a small hill town like Hawley or Heath?

Yes. Franklin County security guard services are quoted by the post, not by the town’s population. A short-term fire watch in Heath or a weekend event in Hawley is set up the same way as a Greenfield account: site walk, post orders, checkpoints and 24/7 dispatch. Travel time is part of the plan, and we explain up front how officers will reach the property and how relief coverage will work.

Do you handle seasonal work at ski areas and fairs?

Yes. Hub offers seasonal and single-event coverage, not just year-round contracts. A resort in Charlemont might want winter weekend lot patrol and nothing else. A September fair might want four days of gate and grounds staff. Both are normal requests. We size the crew to the crowd and the hours.

Which is better for an empty mill building, a posted guard or a patrol?

It depends on the risk. A posted guard makes sense when the building has active contractors, valuable equipment or a history of break-ins. A GPS-tracked mobile patrol with checkpoint scans makes sense for a quiet building that needs regular eyes on it. Many owners start with a risk assessment and then pick one or mix both. We will tell you honestly which we think fits.

Call dispatch or request a quote

If you manage property anywhere from Whately to Warwick, we can plan a post for it. Call (617) 857-1200 any time; dispatch is staffed 24/7. Or request a quote online and we will schedule a site walk. Franklin County security guard services start with a conversation about your property. Hub Security and Investigative Group is ready to have it. See our full service areas for the rest of Western Massachusetts.

Franklin County security starts with one walk through your property. Franklin County security is one part of that map.

Security Guard Services in Franklin County, MA