The private security complex and its regulation in Africa: select examples from the continent

ABSTRACT

This article aims to provide an overview of the primary trends and developments of the domestic private security industry in select countries in Africa, while also further reflecting on a selection of operational challenges and obstacles inherent to the industry and its regulation. In particular, field research was conducted in Uganda to explore the nature of the state ownership of private security companies so as to further highlight the regulatory difficulties. Our findings raise a number of questions pertaining to the theorising of private security regulation answers of which, we conclude, may find utility in drawing on the concept of “hybridity” as an alternative heuristic tool to engage with the realities of state regulation in the Global South.     

The evolution of security industry regulation in the European Union

ABSTRACT

The European private security sector has grown from a handful of small companies at the end of the Second World War into a multibillion Euro industry with thousands of firms and millions of security staff. In Europe, the demands for security is not just expressed notionally but also officially in The European Agenda on Security stating the European Union (EU) aims to ensure that people live in an area of freedom, security, and justice. This article will begin by exploring the role of private security in society. It will then move on to consider the main phases in the development of private security regulation in Europe. Following on from this, some of the main areas of policy development will be considered, such as European bodies, initiatives, and standards. Finally, the article will explore some of the potential options for the future in better regulating the European private security sector. From a historical perspective, the evolution of private security regulation can be divided into three phases: the laissez-faire, the centrifugal, and the centripetal era – each with its own distinct characteristics and impact on the concurrent industry. In the EU where there is the legal framework for the development of a single market in services, the key social partners have been at the forefront of developing a series of standards and guidance documents which promote standards across borders at the European level. However, the institutions of the EU have been reluctant to intervene at a European level in setting minimum standards of private security regulation. Thus, the changing terrain of the EU relating to security, regulation, and the private security industry means the current trajectory may be in need of an injection of more radical thought and consideration.     

Critiquing the regulation of private security in the United Kingdom: views from inside the sector

ABSTRACT

The UK Private Security Industry Act 2001 provided the legal mechanism for the statutory regulation of parts of the private security sector with the explicit aim of reducing criminality in the industry and raising standards. It created the Security Industry Authority as the regulator which commenced operation in 2003. Since then, it has received mixed reviews, and proposals have been forwarded to change its status and the way it works. This paper provides insights from two groups most affected by regulation: security specialists who buy security, and managers and directors of security companies who are subject to regulation and work with its strengths and weaknesses. The paper reports on their views of both the existing regime and some proposed changes. It suggests that the regulator and the industry share similar views albeit there has been a lack of emphasis on what it takes to enhance the ability of the industry to support the public generally rather than just those who pay.     

Unaccountable: The Current State of Private Military and Security Companies

Abstract

The current accountability system for private military and security contractors (PMSCs) is woefully inadequate, and mere enhancements in oversight cannot hope to remedy that failing. I contend that once we recognize the kind of accountability required of PMSCs, we will realize that radical changes in the foundational relationship between PMSCs and the state are required. More specifically, in order to be appropriately accountable, members of PMSCs must become a part of or, at the very least, directly responsible to the legitimate authoritative military or police structures, and there must be a clear and precise delineation of responsibility among public officials for holding individual members of PMSCs criminally liable.     

美国保安服务业的特点及其借鉴

美国是保安服务业发展最早的国家,也是当今世界保安业最发达的国家之一。而我国保安服务业起步较晚,专业化程度和服务质量都处于较低层次。研究美国保安服务业的特点,借鉴其发展经验,将有利于发展和壮大我国保安服务业。     

Private Security: Enforcing Corporate Security Policy Using Private Investigators

This article focuses on the use of private investigators as external agents, commissioned to enforce internal corporate security policy. After describing the sorts of services private investigators provide to industry and commerce and the legal contexts within which they operate, it considers private investigators as a form of secret police within private justice systems defined by companies. It considers the relationship between notions of public good and commercial expediency and raises important questions about the problem of controlling activities which are purposefully kept from legal scrutiny.     

Private security services regulations in the United States today

ABSTRACT

Security services regulations in the United States began formally in the second half of the twentieth century. Many states – never the federal government – first set and then increased, and sometimes decreased, standards over the years. With the shock from the events of 11 September 2001 (9/11) and the subsequent war on terrorism, the pace of regulatory growth increased. Even so, regulations for security personnel – especially security guards – remain at an indefensibly low level with 12 states having no requirements at all for unarmed security personnel and 14 having none for armed. Yet along the way, regulatory pre-employment screening requirements have incrementally improved, training demands, less so. Expecting a security officer with zero-to-a-few hours preassignment training to be a competent first responder, a skilled communicator with the public, a knowledgeable person about applicable law, an informed user of security technology, and a worker educated on the mission and operations of the workplace is not a convincing point of view. The security industry espouses higher standards, including through regulation, but then does not act upon its aspirations. For other security services – alarm installation and monitory personnel, investigators/private detectives, and locksmiths – regulations vary widely according to state. They don’t exist at all for security consultants. This article comments on and reviews regulations for all these security services.     

视频安防监控系统的法律规制原则研究

视频安防监控系统正得到广泛的运用,同时其使用对公民权利也产生了影响。通过对国内外立法、判例中就视频安防监控系统的使用对公民权利的规定的分析,提出视频安防监控系统法律规制的基本原则即公共利益本位原则、职权法定原则、行政正当原则,为当前的立法和执法实践提供参考。     

地方公安立法质量提升路径探讨

随着全面依法治国和全面深化改革的深入推进,为实现国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的目标,应完善包括地方公安立法在内的公安工作制度体系。目前,各地公安立法还存在体系不健全、可操作性不强、欠缺特色性规定、不能适应社会治安防范现实需要等问题。提高地方公安立法质量,有利于完善公安机关参与社会治理的制度体系,有利于建设法治公安,有利于促进公安机关执法规范化建设,有利于规范警务运行机制。为有效提高地方公安立法质量,必须树立社会治安治理立法理念,准确评估地方公安立法需求与效果,完善和规范地方公安立法程序,推进地方公安立法精细化。     

The prescribed roles of police in a free society: Analyzing state legal codes

We examine all 50 states' legal codes to determine the roles and tasks that state legislatures require of police. We find that law enforcement is most prevalent, followed by peacekeeping and service roles. We make suggestions for remedying the lack of the service role in state legislative definitions of police.     

Women in Law Enforcement

ABSTRACT

Despite equal employment opportunity laws, affirmative action policies, and studies which demonstrate the capability of females, women account for only 8% of all municipal police officers in this country. The underrepresentation of social groups in policing is not a new phenomenon and can be explained through the “denial hypothesis.” The present study uses tobit regression techniques to examine the variation in female employment as law enforcement officers in municipal police departments within the State of Florida. The findings indicate that the distribution of sworn female officers does not resemble local labor market conditions. Neither the degree of parity between men and women in local economic conditions nor the availability of a qualified female applicant pool affect agency gender composition.     

Tasks facing Korea's private security business,and its prospects for the 2000's

This thesis forecasts changes in both the domestic and overseas public security circumstances, and analyzes the status of Korea's private security, discussing Korea's private security tasks and prospects for the 2000's, based on the results of problem analysis. Korea's private security business began in the early 60's, and has independently developed since the Security Services Act was established in 1977. Since the early 80's, the private security business has marked rapid growth, thanks to the introduction of Japanese private security capital and technology; and, since the successful holding of the ‘86 Asian Games and the ‘88 Seoul Olympics, the private security business has enjoyed remarkable growth year after year. However, behind such growth lie many problem areas. The internal problems afflicting private security service companies include; first, the private security service providers concentrate too much on labor‐based security; second, equipment‐based security business is limited; third, private security services are not evenly distributed nationwide; fourth, there is only a small scale of private security service providers; and, fifth, there is non‐designation of security vehicles as emergency vehicles. Problems with respect to mutual cooperation with police include (1) insufficient police support in providing training for security personnel, (2) minimal police organization in charge of private security, (3) lack of understanding and cooperation because of low exchange of information between the police and private security organizations, and (4) non‐establishment of standards applicable to the respective roles of the police and private security organization together with lack of emergency mutual contact and information systems. In order to solve these problems and achieve a desirable level of private security performance in the 2000's, a security personnel specialization policy along with security specialist schools must be established and operated. As a developmental policy, it is desirable that the function of examining private security policies be granted to Korea's Police Committee, corresponding to the U.S.A. Regulatory Board, or Japan's Public Security Committee. As a cooperation‐building exercise between the police and private security organizations, systemic meetings, officer‐in‐charge systems, ride‐along programs and crime prevention consulting service centers must be started up and operated.     

The Joint Impact of Race and Gender on Police Department Employment Practices

ABSTRACT

In this study of police departments in southern California we examine the joint effects of race and gender on hiring practices. Although we find some similarities between the employment patterns of African-American and Hispanic officers, our most noteworthy findings involve the sharp differences between the factors which affect the hiring of different groups of individuals for sworn officer positions. The research presented here also improves on previous studies by showing the impact of violent crime rates on police hiring practices.     

The crime control industry and the management of the surplus population

This essay examines what we are calling the ‘crime control industry’ and how the growth of such an industry relates to growing inequality and the need to ‘manage’ or ‘contain’ the ‘surplus population.’ Profits are a major moving force in this process, rather than the goal of reducing crime and suffering. An important component of this industry is the ‘prison industrial complex,’ one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. Also included is a rapidly growing private security industry that includes private police and security guards, along with a growing supply of technology to aid in the ‘war on crime.’ Other components include drug testing companies, gated communities, and a booming gun industry. We conclude by outlining possible explanations for the growth of this industry.     

Civil liability of private security: Enforcer of moral obligations to right legal wrongs

The private security industry in the United States now has approximately twice as many personnel as does the public police. Private Security personnel have authority over the liberty, and sometimes the lives, of customers and employees. Often they exercise this awesome responsibility with little if any background and training. In most instances private security personnel are not considered law officers or peace officers and are, therefore, not bound by the same rules and regulations that apply to public police. More and more frequently, untrained or minimally trained, and basically unqualified security officers are taking actions against customers and employees which are excessive and unreasonable. Without the Constitutional protections which would be available if the act were committed by a public police officer, the only recourse for a private individual against reckless and wanton conduct on the part of private security personnel is a civil action, seeking compensation for the inconvenience caused or injuries received. The courts have found that companies and their security personnel have an obligation to be reasonable in their investigations of suspected criminal violations by employees and customers. Failure to conduct a proper and reasonable investigation will open the individual directing the investigation, and the company authorizing it, to liabililty for the injury their improper actions have caused. Civil liability suits have become the moral enforcer for improper and excessive conduct by private security personnel.     

Preventive Policing and Security Plans: The Reception of New Crime Prevention Strategies in Three Finnish Cities

In Western countries today, security is seen predominantly as a problem of public places. This has given rise to a growing demand for new strategies of governing public places, the most popular of which are crime prevention, community policing (e.g., zero tolerance) and partnership. Their aim is to encourage the public sector, voluntary organizations and market actors to work more closely with the police in a local effort to create and maintain a safe living environment. This article looks at what kind of reception the new methods of governing public places have received in three Finnish cities (Helsinki, Lappeenranta, and Tampere) by reviewing their newly formulated security plans and programmes. The analysis of this document material makes use of the concept of moral regulation. The analysis focuses on the kind of local security problems that are identified in these security plans as targets of moral regulation; what kinds of techniques they propose for addressing and resolving these problems; and in what kind of crime prevention role they position the subjects of moral regulation (police officers and police partners) and the objects of moral regulation. The analysis shows that Helsinki aims to regulate the problems occurring in public places by emphasizing a neo­liberal ethos. Lappeenranta, on the other hand, walks a tight­rope in its security plan between communitarian and welfare state ambitions. Tampere, for its part, responds to the security threat in public places by adopting a neo­leftist stance (cf. the Third Way).     

试论人民警察不作为

在新形势下,一些地方存在警民关系淡化的现象,我们认为,主要原因之一是目前某些警察不作为所致。本文从人民警察不作为的概念、现状入手,分析其危害性希望有关方面予以重视,最后提出防范和惩治警察不作为的具体对策。     

Procedural justice,obligation to obey,and cooperation with police in a sample of Jamaican citizens

ABSTRACT

Procedural justice theory plays a central role in understanding police–citizen relationships. To test the universality of procedural justice theory, researchers have tended to assess the relative impacts of normative and instrumental models of policing in different geopolitical contexts. Building on Reisig and Lloyd’s study in Jamaica, we test in the current study the relative impacts of procedural justice (a normative factor) and police effectiveness and risk of sanctioning (instrumental factors) on Jamaicans’ obligation to obey the police and willingness to cooperate with police. We found that procedural justice predicted both obligation to obey and cooperation, although obligation did not predict cooperation. And while effectiveness predicted obligation, it was not significantly related to cooperation. Lastly, older citizens were more willing to cooperate with police. The study’s implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

A U.N. Convention to Regulate PMSCs?

Abstract

In the last 20 years the ruthless competition for natural resources, political instability, armed conflicts, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have paved the way for private military and security companies (PMSCs) to operate in areas which were until recently the preserve of the state. PMSCs, less regulated than the toy industry, commit grave human rights violations with impunity. The United Nations has elaborated an international binding instrument to regulate their activities but the opposition of the U.S., U.K., and other Western governments—and from PMSCs, which prefer self-regulation—have prevented any advancement.