Private Security and Its Contribution to Policing: Under-researched, Under-utilised and Underestimated

• NCJ Number: 181543
• Journal: International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: September 1999 Pages: 103-116
• Author(s): Mark Button
• Date Published: September 1999
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

The contribution of private security to policing in the United Kingdom is examined in terms of some of the main activities undertaken by private police and how these activities compare to those handled by the public police.

Abstract

Individuals and organizations involved in policing include the regular police service, other public agencies such as Customs and Excise, trading standards officers, vigilantes, and private security companies. Private security is one of the most significant of the other agencies involved in policing. Private security companies carry out all of the four broad roles of the police: (1) fighting and preventing crime; (2) upholding the law; (3) bringing to justice those who break the law; and (4) protecting, helping, and reassuring the community. Most private security products and services focus mainly on preventing crime. A new role that most would associate with the public sector is the uniformed patrol of public areas. Perhaps the only function of the police still monopolized by the public sector in the United Kingdom is the use of firearms; private security personnel in many other countries are often routinely armed. The police often overlook the potential benefits of working with private security personnel. Few formal arrangements exist for cooperation. Private security personnel outnumber police in both the United Kingdom and the United States and are the primary protective resource. Private security personnel lack statutory powers, but they have rights as agents of their employers. Problems with the private security personnel include the qualifications and character of personnel, poor standards of performance, use of excessive force, lack of accountability structures. Actions needed to address these issues include the establishment of a significant program of research on private security and of a Royal Commission to examine the roles of the different organizations involved in policing. Notes and 60 references