[michaelt]

Works out at about $7.66 per hour - less than the Californian minimum wage of $8/hour.

And that's assuming there's no overheads to pay for like tax, health insurance, paid leave, pension contribution, social security, unemployment insurance, worker's comp, uniform, car, gun...

So I'd agree with your assessment that $8000 isn't very much.

[anigbrowl]

I don't know why this is being downvoted; it's simple fact. The security firm is either offering this neighborhood a loss leader (which will be temporary) or overstating the amount of service it intends to provide. $8000 for 4 months implies $24k/year, which is considerably lower than the average salary for a security guard (which is not that much to begin with).

Something doesn't add up here.

[dnautics]

presumably, the services that the firm provides don't necessarily have to be everywhere within the area at all times.