Rideshare company BlackWolf is opening operations in Dallas starting next year, with plans of expanding to Austin and Dallas. The company is widely nicknamed “Uber with guns” because it hires drivers who are licensed to carry weapons, whereas other rideshares prohibit guns in their cars. Is this actually a good thing?
The company was started by Kerry KingBrown of Atlanta, Georgia in 2023. KingBrown quickly became a minor TikTok sensation, saying that he created the company after a private security client of his said something like it was needed to combat human trafficking. He has since amassed over a million followers on TikTok, and commenters constantly ask where the company will expand next. The idea is clearly very popular.
KingBrown says that the service prioritizes veterans, first responders, and law enforcement personnel. Drivers must be licensed to carry firearms and have at least four years’ relevant experience in security or related industries. De-escalation training is included. This is to guarantee that riders are safe with the driver.
The price reflects the added element of a pseudo-bodyguard. BlackWolf trips are 20 percent more expensive than Uber Black, the rideshare’s premium service.
The mention of human trafficking is sure to get people’s attention, but the BlackWolf is not likely to make the problem any better. Uber and Lyft drivers have been used by human traffickers to deliver victims, but they did not initiate the trafficking. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued Uber warnings about the service aiding traffickers, though it doesn’t appear Uber has actually done much to fight it. Unless BlackWolf investigates every possible user of their service, it’s perfectly possible they could be unwitting sex traffickers sometime in the future as well.
There’s also the elevation of paranoia to consider. In 2023, a woman shot her Uber driver in El Paso, convinced he was on the way to deliver her to human traffickers. TikTok is a hotbed of fear-based content spreading exaggerated claims of human trafficking, which is likely why KingBrown found such a potent forum there for his launch.
The additional background checks could possibly help. Uber has been the subject of several sexual harassment and assault lawsuits based on the behavior of drivers. On the other hand, police officers are also often sued for sexual crimes. A former Houston police officer was just sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for raping a woman on duty in June. A Dallas police officer was arrested for assault and indecency with a child in September. Having former cops on the staff is no guarantee against sexual crimes.
It’s worth questioning how good those background checks are going to be considering how lax the company’s founder is with his own credentials. KingBrown has already run afoul of official regulations twice. When he tried to expand into Phoenix, Arizona, he failed to secure the proper permits from the Department of Transportation. Georgia authorities also put a halt to his first launch when it became clear that KingBrown did not have a license to operate a security company. The court then revoked his personal security guard license. He nevertheless went on to work on security detail for congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green.
Violence in rideshares is a real problem, but it’s unclear if anything BlackWolf is doing would improve it. The security against further human trafficking is negligible considering how rare kidnapping of strangers is compared to that of people the victim knows. There’s no indication that Uber drivers were aware they were delivering a trafficked person, and little evidence that BlackWolf would do a better job.
Hiring veterans and former law enforcement does not guarantee safety as sworn officers of the law with extensive training and military vets still commit assault, sometimes at higher rates than the general population. There is simply nothing BlackWolf is doing aside from possibly expanded background checks that might make passengers safer.
But if you want to pay extra to ride around and pretend you need a security detail, BlackWolf is perfect for that.
