YPG Risk strengthens community security with Axon technology

About the agency

YPG Risk began operating in 2019 in Melbourne’s western corridor, with a focus on residential security. 

As the company grew, it wanted to ensure its services continued to meet the needs of communities, and so in 2022, they established  a Community Response Team (CRT). YPG Risk’s CRT is a dedicated community patrol service with personnel drawn from policing and military backgrounds. These professionals are trained to manage situations beyond the scope of conventional guard services.

Today, YPG Risk has approximately 52 employees and provides security to almost 20,000 homes. That footprint includes larger residential estates as well as individual subscribers who pay for access to mobile patrol and incident-response services.

The company has deliberately maintained a community-oriented operating model as it has expanded.

The challenge

During the COVID-19 pandemic, police resources were redirected towards enforcing public-health restrictions and meeting frontline demands. YPG Risk explained how since 2020, demands on police resources in Melbourne have only increased. As a result, residents wanted another layer of visible, responsive security that could supplement a strong police presence.

In order to provide communities with more than a traditional mobile patrol, YPG Risk required more personnel and a way to improve the quality of its evidence. Before adopting Axon, YPG Risk relied on inexpensive camera systems and SD cards to capture incidents. YPG founder Grant Burton recalled one instance of losing an SD card before court, which created a serious evidentiary problem.

YPG Risk needed a system that could turn frontline observations into reliable, actionable evidence.

The solution

YPG Risk enhanced its Community Response Team’s training and technology so it could effectively respond to situations while capturing reliable evidence.

They first integrated Axon Body 3 cameras into their technology system. Public-facing personnel wear them throughout their shifts, creating a consistent record that later supports police authorities and increases community transparency.

Axon Evidence provides a secure system for managing that footage and sharing it with Victoria Police. Axon Community Request also allows YPG Risk to request footage from residents and consolidate relevant files for investigators without relying on manual collection.

The company then equipped its vehicles with Fleet 3 cameras capable of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), giving patrol teams a more effective way to identify and document vehicles of interest, all while operating within the legal boundaries governing private security.

More recently, YPG Risk has added Fusus to its stack to strengthen real-time operations. Leadership can monitor developing incidents remotely and coordinate additional police or emergency medical support when needed.

Together, these capabilities connect what happens in the field with the people responsible for responding to and acting on that information.

Results

Stolen vehicle identification and recovery

The combination of mobile patrols and ANPR technology has created a new source of actionable vehicle intelligence for YPG Risk and its police partners.

To date, YPG Risk reports identifying 161 stolen vehicles with Fleet 3, of which 149 were recovered by Victoria Police. The company also identified 67 cloned plates and was able to provide evidence to police.

Evidence that supports investigations and court outcomes

The move to Axon Evidence addressed one of CRT’s most important operational requirements: creating evidence that could be trusted in court and shared efficiently with police.

Burton said Victoria Police’s own use of Axon Evidence was a major factor in YPG Risk’s decision to utilise the same platform

YPG Risk can now upload and share footage digitally, including relevant footage shared by residents through community links. This allows YPG to collect information from multiple homes under their purview without requiring officers or guards to visit each address.

For YPG Risk, the value of Axon Evidence goes beyond convenience. The system creates an audit trail for evidence and ensures original footage cannot be edited or altered by frontline personnel without the change being documented.

The company reports that 167 cases involving evidence provided through Axon Evidence have led to arrests or convictions. The company also shared that pre-event buffering on Axon body-cameras has supported approximately 20 convictions over the past two years, particularly in situations where a key event occurred immediately before a camera was actively recording. That capability can be critical when the first moments of an incident occurred right before the recording began. 

Faster resolution of disputes

YPG Risk says public-facing staff wear body cameras throughout their shifts, creating a continuous record that serves multiple purposes: evidentiary support, employee protection, and accountability assurances.

One recent example demonstrated the value of that record. A resident’s doorbell camera showed a YPG Risk guard standing beside a vehicle with its door open. The resident believed the guard had broken into the vehicle and removed belongings. However, the body-camera footage of the guard showed that the vehicle had already been broken into before the guard arrived. 

YPG Risk was able to pull this footage within approximately 30 minutes, and the resident ultimately apologised and withdrew their complaint.

The company also uses body-camera footage in weekly internal reviews to examine communication, de-escalation and interactions with members of the public.

Greater community reach

Since establishing the Community Response Team, YPG Risk has not lost a home customer. The company also reported that there have been zero home invasions at actively patrolled subscriber homes in the past five years.

YPG Risk believes these figures are indicators of customer confidence and the value of its visible patrol presence. 

Conclusion and looking ahead

YPG Risk’s Community Response Team has grown from a concept into a technology-backed security organisation that serves communities across the city of Melbourne. 

Axon technology has become a foundational part of their model. Body cameras provide an evidentiary record and a mechanism for training and accountability. ANPR extends the organisation’s ability to identify stolen vehicles and partner with local police. Axon Evidence provides a secure pathway from frontline observation to police investigation and court.

The company is continuing to evaluate additional capabilities, including Axon Draft One, Drone as First Responder, and translation technology. Their direction is clear: continue investing in frontline technology and expanding operational capabilities without losing the community-focus that has helped differentiate the security company.