Interface Systems has released its 2026 Restaurant Security Benchmark Report, drawing insights from data collected across 1.1 million monitoring events at 9,392 U.S. restaurant sites. This extensive study, involving 78 brands in the quick-service, fast-casual, and casual dining sectors, examines critical security challenges within the industry, including peak risk times, risk concentration areas, and effective intervention strategies.
The report sheds light on various facets of risk management, providing valuable data to security and operations leaders in the restaurant sector. As noted by Brent Duncan, CEO of Interface Systems, restaurant operators face the challenge of balancing employee safety, customer experience, and operational efficiency. “This report provides real-world operational data that helps them understand where risk is greatest, when intervention matters most, and how to make more informed security decisions," he stated.
Key security challenges
Protecting people remains a core focus, with the primary security issues identified as loiterers and panhandlers (49.8%) and disturbances (21.5%). Collectively, these two categories make up over 70% of high-priority incidents. Unique to the dining sector, threats such as theft and loss, common in retail, are less prevalent. Other monitored threats include battery, assault, burglary, robbery, property damage, and medical emergencies.
Data reveals a concentration of risk, with 3% of locations generating 81% of high-priority events. The top 100 sites alone account for 59% of these incidents. Notably, risk levels remain high throughout the day, peaking at 6 PM and persisting overnight from 10 PM to 6 AM. The month of January experiences the highest incident rates, at 61% above summer levels.
Operational impact and response effectiveness
Employee reliance on monitoring systems is significant, with over 82,000 assistance requests recorded
Interactive remote monitoring proves critical, successfully resolving 98.4% of incidents without requiring police, fire, or medical dispatch.
From the 1.1 million events, only 1.6% needed emergency response. False alarms present an ongoing operational challenge, with over 296,000 reported, predominantly during morning openings. However, video verification effectively addresses over 97% of these alarms prior to dispatch, saving on fines and preserving emergency resources.
Support and holiday risks
Employee reliance on monitoring systems is significant, with over 82,000 assistance requests recorded, averaging 225 daily. These include live monitoring requests, voice-down interventions, and employee escorts, especially during vulnerable times like openings, closings, and cash handling. The risk profile fluctuates around holidays, exemplified by the contrast between the low incidents on Christmas Day and the high volume on Christmas Eve. The day following Presidents' Day saw the year's peak incident count as normal operations resumed.
The report, based on anonymised data from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026, not only benchmarks security measures but also offers guidance to enhance employee safety, streamline operations, and effectively allocate security resources according to genuine risk.
Interface Systems, a provider of AI-powered security and expert remote video monitoring for restaurants, retailers, and commercial businesses, today released its 2026 Restaurant Security Benchmark Report, an annual study based on 1.1 million monitoring events across 9,392 U.S. restaurant locations representing 78 quick-service, fast-casual, and casual dining brands.
The report provides operational data at a scale to help restaurant security and operations leaders understand when risk peaks, where it concentrates, which threats escalate fastest, and which intervention strategies prove most effective across thousands of monitored locations.
Informed security decisions
"Restaurant operators are balancing employee safety, customer experience, and operational efficiency across hundreds or even thousands of locations," said Brent Duncan, CEO of Interface Systems. "This report provides real-world operational data that helps them understand where risk is greatest, when intervention matters most, and how to make more informed security decisions."
Protecting people is the primary security challenge. Loiterers and panhandlers (49.8%) and disturbances (21.5%) together account for over 70% of high-priority events. Theft and loss, the dominant threat in retail, barely registers at restaurants. Other threats tracked included battery and assault, burglary, robbery, property damage, and medical emergencies.
Real-world operational data
Risk is highly concentrated in a small set of locations. Three percent of monitored locations generate 81% of all high-priority events, and the top 100 sites alone account for 59%. Uniform security spend across a portfolio overprotects most sites and underprotects the few that carry the risk.
Risk extends across the clock. High-priority events stay elevated around the clock, peaking at 6 PM during the dinner rush, while roughly 30% occur overnight between 10 PM and 6 AM when restaurants run skeleton crews or sit closed. January was the worst month, running 61% above the summer low.
Significant operational burden
Interactive remote monitoring resolves most incidents before police response is required. Of 1.1 million events, only 1.6% required a police, fire, or medical dispatch. Trained intervention specialists with live video and two-way audio resolved 98.4% remotely.
False alarms remain a significant operational burden. Restaurants generated more than 296,000 false alarms during the reporting period, with nearly half occurring during morning opening procedures. Video verification resolved more than 97% before emergency dispatch, helping operators avoid unnecessary fines while preserving first responder resources.
Reducing operational disruption
Employees rely on live support during vulnerable windows. Staff initiated more than 82,000 requests for monitoring assistance over the year, approximately 225 every day, including live monitoring, voice-down interventions, and employee escorts during opening, closing, and cash-handling activities.
Risk surrounds holidays. Christmas Day recorded the fewest incidents of the year, while Christmas Eve saw three times as many. The day after Presidents Day produced the highest incident volume of any holiday period as restaurants returned to normal operations.
The 2026 Restaurant Security Benchmark Report is based on anonymized event metadata collected between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 across 9,392 restaurant locations nationwide. In addition to benchmarking data, the report offers practical guidance to help restaurant operators improve employee safety, reduce operational disruption, and align security resources with actual risk.
