Reporting
Security Guard Daily Activity Report (DAR): Example & Template
A daily activity report (DAR) is the record of what a security officer did on a shift. A good one is specific, time-stamped, and easy for a client to scan. Below is a template you can copy and a worked example.
Updated June 2026 · 7 min read
What a daily activity report is
A DAR is a chronological summary of a single officer's shift: when they arrived, what they patrolled, what they observed, any incidents, and when they left. It is the document a client reads to confirm they got the coverage they paid for.
It is different from an incident report (which documents one specific event in depth) and from a patrol verification report (which proves coverage with checkpoint and location data). The best DARs pull all three together.
What every good DAR includes
- Header: officer name, site, date, and shift start/end times.
- Checkpoints or rounds completed, with times.
- Observations: routine notes about the condition of the site.
- Incidents: anything out of the ordinary, with times and actions taken.
- Evidence: photos tied to the relevant entries.
- Sign-off: a clear end-of-shift summary.
DAR template (copy this structure)
Officer: ____________________
Site: ____________________ Date: ____________
Shift: ______ to ______
TIME ENTRY
______ Arrived on site, began first round
______ Checkpoint: ____________ (status)
______ Observation: ____________________
______ Incident: ____________________
______ Action taken: ____________________
______ Final round complete, departed site
End-of-shift summary: ____________________
Worked DAR example
Here is the same template filled in for an illustrative overnight shift at a retail plaza:
Officer: Marcus K.
Site: Westfield Plaza Date: Dec 16, 2025
Shift: 22:00 to 06:00
22:04 Arrived on site, began first perimeter round
22:18 Checkpoint: East Gate — secure
22:41 Checkpoint: Loading Dock — secure
23:10 Observation: Lot B lighting partially out, noted
01:30 Incident: suspicious vehicle in Lot B; logged
plate and photo, monitored until it departed 01:52
02:14 Incident: broken window at East Gate; photo taken,
client and supervisor notified
05:50 Final round complete, all checkpoints secure
06:02 Departed site
Summary: Full coverage maintained. Two incidents
documented with photo evidence and handled per protocol.
Common DAR mistakes to avoid
- Vague entries (“all clear”) with no times or detail.
- Writing the whole report from memory at the end of the shift.
- Rounded or identical times that suggest the rounds didn't really happen on cadence.
- No evidence attached to incidents.
Generate the DAR instead of typing it
The most reliable DAR is one built from what actually happened during the shift. When checkpoint scans, locations, and photos are captured live, the report can be generated automatically — accurate by default, with nothing reconstructed afterward.
See a real, client-ready officer report generated from a shift.View a sample reportStop writing DARs from memory.
Sentinel Hound captures activity as it happens and generates the daily activity report for you — time-stamped, evidence-backed, and ready to send.