About Urban Shield
Helping influential people and organizations live and work with confidence
Urban Shield is a licensed security and investigations firm serving executives, families and companies in California and New York. We combine protective expertise, intelligence and concierge-level service into one program built around each client.
Who we are
Protective expertise with a Bay Area address and a New York license
Urban Shield, Inc. was founded in Oakland, California as a concierge security firm for technology companies, corporate offices and luxury residences. The premise was simple: protection should be planned carefully, delivered quietly and shaped around the people it serves.
That approach drew clients whose needs went well beyond a lobby. The firm grew into executive protection, residential security teams, covert protection, risk mitigation and licensed investigations, and in 2026 was licensed by the New York State Department of State to serve clients on both coasts. The company operates as Urban Shield, Inc. doing business as Regional Defense.
A message from our CEO
"Our clients are people who have earned a measure of visibility and the risk that comes with it. They should not have to think about security every hour of the day. That is our job. We plan ahead, we stay discreet and we treat every household and every office as if it were our own. If a program is working, you will rarely notice it. That is the standard we hold ourselves to."
Daniel Cotten
Chief Executive Officer, Urban Shield, Inc.
Our people
Selected for judgment as much as skill
Our agents come from military service, law enforcement, government protective details, estate management and corporate security. Each is licensed and registered in the state where they work and trained to that state's standards before their first assignment. Investigators, analysts and technical specialists support every detail with facts.
We recruit for temperament. The best protective work is calm, courteous and almost invisible, and the people who do it well are the ones a client is glad to have in the room.
Purpose, mission and vision
What drives us
Our purpose
Why we exist
Threats against prominent people and organizations are more frequent, more personal and harder to predict than they were a decade ago. The people who face them should be able to live and work without that weight. We exist to carry it for them.
Our mission
What we do
To deliver discreet, tailored protection for the modern world, built on veteran discipline and concierge-level service.
Our vision
Where we are going
To be the firm that executives, families and companies on both coasts trust first: one team, one standard and one point of contact from the Bay Area to Manhattan, and wherever our clients travel.
Comprehensive solutions
Built for the people who carry the risk
Whoever you are responsible for, there is a program shaped for it.
For executives and foundersProtection that keeps pace with a public profile, a packed calendar and travel between coasts, without slowing you down.
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For families and family officesA dedicated residential team, screened household staff and quiet coverage for children and daily routines.
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For companies and campusesOfficers who represent your brand, programs that meet workplace violence duties and support for sensitive HR moments.
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For clients who value privacyCovert details and counter-surveillance for principals who want to be protected without being seen to be.
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For general counsel and HRBackground checks, due diligence, surveillance and threat assessments that hold up to legal scrutiny.
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For boards and risk committeesIndependent assessment of exposure and of existing security programs, with a written plan and a clear budget.
Learn more →What sets us apart
Protection, intelligence and service in one firm
Tailored, never templated
Every program begins with an assessment of one client. Coverage, staffing and procedures are written for that client's exposure and revised as it changes.
Intelligence before presence
Investigators and analysts sit inside our protective teams. Threats are identified, people are verified and routes are planned before an agent is ever posted.
One standard on both coasts
We hold our own licenses in California and New York. Clients keep the same team, the same procedures and the same point of contact wherever they are.
Our footprint
Two of the largest states in the nation, one firm
From our Bay Area base we serve San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. From New York we serve Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Clients who travel between the two keep the same team, and vetted partners extend coverage wherever our clients go.
Licensed and regulated
- California. Private Patrol Operator licensed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
- New York. Licensed by the New York State Department of State, Division of Licensing Services.
- Insured. General liability and workers' compensation coverage on every assignment.
- Trained. Agents complete each state's required training and our own advance, medical and protocol instruction.
Verify either license with the state regulator. We encourage every client to check.
Let's start a conversation
Tell us who and what you need protected. A member of our team will reply to arrange a confidential consultation.