Private police

Private police or special police are law enforcement bodies that are owned and/or controlled by non-governmental entities. Additionally, the term can refer to an off-duty police officer while working for a private entity, providing security, or otherwise law enforcement-related services. These officers do have power to uphold the laws under the discretion of the private company.

In jurisdictions that allow private police, private police may be employed and paid for by a non-governmental agency, such as a railroad, or port, or university, or nuclear facility, or hospital, but they are peace officers or law enforcement officers that are commissioned, licensed, and regulated by the state. They are required to swear an oath to uphold the laws of the state where they are commissioned and follow the same regulations peace officers / law enforcement officers must abide by. The main difference between a private police officer and a regular police officer is who is signing their paycheck and their jurisdiction.

Many people confuse private police with security guards, but they are not the same thing. Not all security guards have police power, whereas private police are sworn police officers employed by private entities, or even small governmental departments (such as library police, etc.).

Private police departments receive their commissions from the state (or counties, municipalities, etc.), but are generally not considered government actors. Security officers are regulated by the state, but generally do not have police powers, such as the ability to arrest on a warrant, or issue citations and summons for misdemeanor offenses.

Private military companies providing law enforcement services may also be referred to as private gendarmeries or private civil guards, due to their militarized nature.

Types of officers and terminology

Private police

Private police (also called company police) are commissioned police officers that are hired by a non-governmental agency, such as a university, hospital, port, nuclear facility, railroad, etc. These police officers swear an oath to the state or country (or both) they are commissioned in but are paid for by the private organization that hired them. Depending on the jurisdiction, they may have full police power within their jurisdictions or limited police powers. Private police officers are held to the same regulations and standards as regular police officers. Sometimes (but not all times) these officers are commissioned as "special police," the special-term delineating their narrow jurisdiction.

Special police

In some countries, like the United States, the term "special police" indicates a police force that has limited law enforcement powers. Special police may be employed by either a governmental agency or a non-governmental agency, and as such are not always private police.

Some states give local officials the ability to appoint special police officers with specific duties, either to assist local law enforcement or to provide assistance during an emergency. These officers may or may not be commissioned police officers, but generally have the same privileges and immunities as police officers. For example, some municipalities appoint special police as security for the municipal buildings and airports, freeing up commissioned police officers for general police duties. Special Police officers can be public officers (such as the

The use of public police officers under private pay has become more and more contentious, as it is felt to be unfair competition against private security firms. ^[citation needed]

Security guards

Security guards are, by definition, not private police since they are not commissioned police officers. They are usually regulated by the government but lack many of the same police powers commissioned police officers are granted. Security officers are limited to their assigned properties (even if they travel between multiple properties), and can only take the action on public streets that a citizen might take. Security agencies range from "slick-belt" companies that merely observe and report incidents to police, to more well trained security agencies that detain subjects committing crimes, and have good relationships with their local police departments.

Government entities may employ private security personnel via contract, while others have their own security departments. Sometimes these officers have special police commissions, and some do not.

Security personnel can also take on auxiliary functions of police duties, such as administrative work, which constitutes a signification proportion of the workload of officers. It has been argued that police, who cost more than private security guards, are overqualified for such auxiliary duties because of their extensive training. One study found that outsourcing such functions to private contractors could reduce police forces’ operational expenditures by between 17% and 20% in the Canadian province of Quebec. The same study cited similar measures in the UK, which led to reductions in both crime rates and public expenditures on police.^[1]

Examples

Canada

As in the United States, the largest private police forces in

An increasing number of

A number of Port Police forces exist within the UK that are run by the respective port authorities, which are private companies. Legislation relating to Port Police dates back to the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847, although subsequent legislation has been passed in relation to specific ports. Most Port Police have jurisdiction within 1 mile of port property. However, the Marine Navigation Act 2013 allows the Chief Constable of the local force to grant a port police force jurisdiction throughout England and Wales in relation to port business. The legislation was enacted after it emerged that the Port of Dover Police were acting unlawfully when transporting prisoners to custody when it was over a mile away from port property.^[3]

Until 2003, Oxford University both had a private police force, who had standard constabulary powers within 4 miles of any university building. In 2002, a group of local traders in Oxford wrote to

After a policy review by the University Council in 2003, the Oxford University Police was disbanded when it was decided that it would be too expensive to bring the force up to the required standard of training and implement a multi-tiered complaints procedure.

United States

In the United States, these can be firms to which the government contracts out

In Boston, Massachusetts, more than 100 housing projects and low-income apartment buildings are some times patrolled by private security. A few of these companies employ Special Police Officers that are licensed and trained through the City of Boston. These Special Police officers do meet the state's standard of a special police officer. These Special Police Officers in Boston get their power from BPD rule 400.^[10] In 2021, Boston special police officers lost their commissions due to laws passed due to police reform.^[11]

In North Carolina, private police are certified company police agencies governed by the North Carolina Department of Justice chapter 74E of the Company Police Act. Under 74E Company Police in North Carolina can, and do make arrests, and write citations for violations of the law the same as any municipal police officer. Company Police jurisdiction is on any real property that they own, possess and control, or have been contracted to protect by the owner or person in control, unless they are in continuous pursuit for a crime that was committed in their jurisdiction or investigating a crime that occurred in their jurisdiction. Private police in North Carolina must meet or exceed all training and certification requirements as any municipal, county or state law enforcement officer.

In South Carolina, all Security Officers have the authority and power to make an arrest just as Sheriff's Deputies do (although this is unique for the USA).^[12] In (Spring Valley HOA) Columbia, South Carolina, Private Officers respond to calls for service, run traffic radar, make arrests and use blue lights.^[13] Security Officers in South Carolina are Law Enforcement under state law, case law and the Attorney General's opinions, and are authorized by the state to issue Uniform Traffic Tickets to violators and make arrests for violations of state laws.^[14] Security Officers are considered Private Law Enforcement Officers.^[15]

In

In Great Britain, the police function was historically performed by private watchmen (existing from 1500 on), thief-takers, and so on. The former were funded by private individuals and organizations and the latter by privately funded rewards for catching criminals, who would then be compelled to return stolen property or pay restitution.

In 1737,

Perceived advantages

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Advantages of private police for institutions and organizations

Benefits for having private police (instead of security guards) for railroads, ports, universities, schools, hospitals, and other organizations include:

• Since they are commissioned police officers, and not just security guards:
  • they can do things security guards can't do since they have additional powers granted by the state, including the power to arrest.
  • they have the same privileges and immunities as police officers since they are commissioned police officers.
  • The state regulates the private police and private police officers are held to higher standards than security guards are.
• The cost of the private police is shifted to the organization utilizing the police officers, and not to taxpayers.
• The police officers often specialize. For example, university police are trained to deal specifically with students, faculty, and dangers common to university campuses.
• The private police and regular police can engage in mutual assistance agreements, allowing them to work together.
• Municipal, county, parish, state, federal, or national police can use their resources elsewhere. Home security officers in gated communities like gated Residential neighborhoods may be considered private police if given arrest powers and the Right to give out warrants and tickets according to the Home owners association (HOA).

Advantages of private police as contractees of states

There is evidence that private police can provide services more cheaply than public police. The cost of San Francisco's private patrol specials is $25–30/hour, compared to $58/hour for an off-duty police officer.

Another advantage cited by Benson is that private police would have a contractual responsibility to protect their customers.[21] In Warren v. District of Columbia, the court found that public police have no such responsibility.^[22] Thus, private police can be sued if they fail to respond to calls for help, for instance.

James F. Pastor addresses the disadvantages by analyzing a number of substantive legal and public policy issues which directly or indirectly relate to the provision of security services. These can be demonstrated by the logic of alternative or supplemental service providers. This is illustrated by the concept of "para-police." Para-police is another name for private police officers. Many public safety agencies use auxiliary police officers, who are part-time sworn police officers. Some also use reserve police officers, who are hired on an "as needed" basis, with limited police powers. These officers are typically called to duty for special details or events. In contrast to auxiliary and reserve officers, private policing is a relatively new and growing phenomenon. However, there are historical precedents such as the watchmen of medieval and early modern England and the Santa Hermandad of medieval and early modern Spain. These eventually became government-funded police, but some were originally privately organized.

There are several key distinctions between these options. Briefly, the distinctions relate to the level of police powers associated with the officer, the training levels required for each officer, the funding sources for the service provision, and the contractual and liability exposures related to each supplemental arrangement. Each alternative or supplemental service has its own strengths and weaknesses. The use of private police, however, has particular appeal because property or business owners can directly contract for public safety services, thereby providing welcome relief for municipal budgets. Finally, private police functions can be flexible, depending upon the financial, organizational, political, and situational circumstances of the client.^[23]

Under anarcho-capitalism, citizens would not have to fund police services through taxation. One argument against such a policy is that it would disadvantage the poor, who could not afford to spend much money on police. Thus, some more moderate libertarians favor issuing police vouchers to each citizen, granting them a certain amount of money to hire a private police company of their choice at taxpayer expense.^[24][25]

Murray Rothbard notes, "police service is not 'free'; it is paid for by the taxpayer, and the taxpayer is very often the poor person himself. He may very well be paying more in taxes for police now than he would in fees to private, and far more efficient, police companies. Furthermore, the police companies would be tapping a mass market; with the economies of such a larger-scale market, police protection would undoubtedly be much cheaper."^[26]

Public police are limited in size by the political jurisdiction, although some local public police forces already contract with national private firms for specialty services, such as maintenance of communications equipment, for which it would not be economical for them to hire a full-time government employee.^[27]

Perceived disadvantages

Problems within the industry include the possibility of criminals setting up their own firms, misuse of surveillance devices, and strained relationships between the public and private police.^[28]

Ultimately, some people see the potential for a “dual system” of policing—one for the wealthy and one for the poor—and others see the provision of private security as the primary protective resource in the contemporary United States.^[23]

In Florida, Critical Intervention Services patrols neighborhoods and has deployed lethal force before.^[29] They have limited power, like other private security agencies in the state, regulated by Florida Statute 493.^[30]

There are regulatory mechanisms for private police, specifically the commissioning bodies of those agencies (such as the state's

Additionally, private police could be perceived as having a conflict of interest. For example, in Canada there are private police who serve the railways, namely the CN and CP Police. The conflict of interest became apparent when CP Police were sent to investigate an accident at CP, and the railroad ordered one of their officers to stop investigating and refused to provide information to that officer. ^[31]

Vagueness of the definition of "private police"

"Policing" and "private policing" are somewhat elusive concepts. "Private sector" police have been described as "any individual or group involved with law enforcement or security, but lacking official police authority."^[32] However, in many jurisdictions - particularly in the United States - private police agencies and or officers generally do have some form of statutory authority. At the core of the policing concept, though, is the combating of crime. Patrick Tinsley writes:^[33]

Enforcement of law is a phenomenon that admits of infinite degrees and permutations. Take the case of a jewelry store. The theft of its wares is a crime under the law. But the jewelry store does not rely exclusively— or even primarily —on the majesty of the state’s enforcement of that law for its own security. The jewelry store engages the services of manifold private protection outfits: it takes out an

alarm activated as the employees leave and the armed night watchmen

arrive. All of these are provided by private companies in the business of providing “security,” and all of which should give pause to those who consider the enforcement of law uniquely the franchise of the government.

References