Relationship Between Public and Private Police Essay

In the field of policing there are a couple different paths for an individual to choose from and they include private security and public policing. State government, city government, and towns normally provide the community with a public police force to enforce the laws and protect the citizens. Police officers are very important within a community but sometimes a private security can come in and help out and this frees up time for the public policing. Private security personnel generally work for a private company that handles their own dispatching, training and recruiting. Private security functions include loss-prevention duties or protective services that would not be

"Private security and public law enforcement share many of the same goals: preventing crime and disorder, identifying criminals, and ensuring the security of people and property," ("Private Security and Public Law Enforcement," n.d.). There are many more private security officers than public police officers, making tandem projects and collaboration essential ("Private Security and Public Law Enforcement," n.d.). There may be some overlap between public law enforcement and private security, but generally the latter can be more highly specialized and are therefore useful in situations such as campus security.

Public policing and private security have several distinct differences in their essential policies. The essential policies for public policing are hierarchically organized; there are many official and formal levels of public agencies positions. Civil service examinations are the means of choosing only the most qualified personnel based on merit, the government gives the policies to public policing to execute. Again, the treatments of citizens using government services are to be fair and just and Public affairs focus is given to the management of public agencies and organizations. In addition, public service-oriented profit is not a motive they serve the public and publicly funded tax revenues fund these public administrations.

With municipal and state budgets being slashed across the nation, in response to the prolonged economic recession which devastated America's bottom line, many professional police forces have been compelled to reallocate resources or reduce their numbers. To fill the void in law enforcement left by these cuts to police budgets, many private companies have become increasingly reliant on the services provided by the private security industry. Although private security officers safeguard our apartment buildings after sundown, patrol mall parking lots to prevent theft, and enhance public safety at sporting events, most members of society fail to ascribe the same sense of heroic duty to private security officers as they do the police. Indeed, criminal justice researchers have consistently demonstrated that "without the services of private industry, a gaping, colossal, protection vacuum would exist in the distribution of justice, [and] the protection of assets and facilities" (Nemeth, 2011), but nonetheless private security officers are not afforded the same respect or legal protections as traditional law enforcement officials. One of the most alarming trends to develop in the last decade, as private security contracting grew from a niche occupation to a full-fledged industry, is the rising rate of incidence involving private security officers discharging their service weapons in the line of duty, and being charged with manslaughter or even first degree murder simply for doing

In the state of California the days of hiring anybody to fill security guard vacancies are long gone. No longer are the security professional people those who cannot find employment elsewhere because of legal or educational issues. The Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) under the Department of Consumer Affairs requires a security professional to possess on his or her body a valid security guard registration card and valid photo identification. These regulations are not on for the individual security professional but also for

When using force, private security personnel are high risk for criminal and civil prosecution. The use of deadly force must be limited to clear and present dangers to the life of the security officer. Even when tasked with guarding highly valuable property, the use of deadly force is not appropriate in all situations. In many cases, it will be the poorly trained or overly zealous security officer that ends up being charged with a crime (Satchell, 2017).

To understand the role(s) of a Security Manager, a person must know what security is and what it means to an organization. According to Ortmeier, “security may be defined as a public or private service-related activity that provides personnel, equipment, and creates policies and procedures designed to prevent or reduce losses. These losses, caused by criminal action as well as by noncriminal events resulting from human error, emergencies, man-made and natural disasters, and business intelligence collection by competitors”. (2009).

Public policing is responsible for the actions of assisting the public and society to ensure the safety of individuals. Most public organizations assist private organizations because of the lack of equipment and sometimes staff availability required for some areas of security. Most private security organizations acquire most public officials with training because of the higher paid officials who leave the public agencies to grow and expand. Most public organizations protect the public just like private organizations but still have jurisdictions and private property not in contract to assist in certain situations. Most private organizations will contact public organizations for assistance if an emergency arises and assistance is necessary to control and isolate the situation.

Since the beginning of police work in America, the system has changed from disorganized chaos into a well structured and rather complex network of communication, response efforts, and detection of lawless behavior. From the creation of the town watch to the transformation of the first police force in the colonies to the lawlessness of the old west and the efforts to revive efficient police work, America has been ever advancing its protection of those who live in the White House, the suburbs, the slums, and even those struggling on the streets. The History of Policing in America is not derived from one origin of time but rather taking the highest qualities of protection from within itself and countries of both friend and foe.

Security officers learned a very large lesson on September 11, 2001; they learned that they needed to care about and perform their job to the best of their ability in order to safeguard our country.

The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.

Security in America has evolved from the time of the first settlers to today’s well-trained forces. Factors leading to the significant growth of private security from pre-Civil War to post World War II consisted of a lack of public police and large monetary loss by private industry. Today, security is global and faces challenges and changes, with increases in terrorism and technology crimes. It must maintain a high level of professionalism and maintain technological innovation remain a respected industry.

Public officers now work part time with private security officials in some nations to protect valuable assets. This has made the qualifications of private security officers to be competitive for them to have the qualifications that will enable them to carry out investigations that will require a lot of knowledge. The basic drug test and criminal is not enough when you are looking for someone who will be able to do research and try to come up with findings on why certain crimes took place and finding the perpetrators. Knowledge on criminal investigations will be of importance and the reason why companies hiring private investigators to help the local people who would like to use their services in trying to solve the mysteries in their lives look for people with excellent education qualifications (Li, 2008).

The security guard services industry consisted of two segments: proprietary guards and contract guards. The historical growth was driven by companies realizing, that contracting guards allowed them gain operating flexibility instead of managing their own security personnel. In 1987 security guard services was a $10 billion industry growing at 6% a year. Due to the industry being very mature, fragmented, and price competitive there was an ongoing consolidation trend.

The disadvantages of proprietary security are too varying. The main point is that you have to pay for additional training. There are rules and regulations by law that govern the type of training required based on the securities responsibly. Another key point is you have to schedule their hours to ensure that there is coverage during important times. You have additional benefits and insurance requirements for those that carry a weapon. Most important if the organization downsizes there is a chance that security will be cut