Freeman Guards Inc. — a Honolulu-based provider of contract security officers at the Honolulu Airport, the University of Hawaii and other locations — filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation today.

The company, which has about 200 employees, was founded in 1972 by Jerry Kele Freeman after he served in the Honolulu Police Department as a patrolman and detective for 12 years. Freeman Guards has offices on North King Street on Oahu, as well as on Maui and in Hilo and Kona on the Big Island.

Freeman Guards, which will shut down immediately, listed assets and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million, as well as 200 to 999 creditors.

American Express is the largest unsecured creditor with two claims totaling more than $55,000, according to Freeman Guards’ filing in federal Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu.

The largest secured creditors are Atlas Insurance at $390,000 and lender Graystone Capital at $360,000, according to Chapter 7 trustee David Farmer. Freeman filed for bankruptcy after a proposal to be bought by Securitas, a mainland security firm, fell through, Farmer said.