Privatization in criminal justice
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Privatization in criminal justice refers to a shift to private ownership and control of criminal justice services. The term is often used to refer simply to contracting out services, which takes place extensively in many countries today. For example, various prison services may be provided piecemeal by private vendors. Taken to its fullest extreme, however, privatization entails private-sector control over all the decisions regarding the use of resources devoted to the protection of persons and property.
Reasons
Many criminal justice services are privatized because the government lacks the means to carry them out. For example, private
History
In the mid-1960s, Florida Governor
In 1993, the Kentwood, Michigan police department signed a three-year contract with a private firm to investigate and recover bad checks. The contractor handles all merchant contacts, telephone calls regarding bad checks, and investigations, in an effort to recover the face value of the check as well as the expenses for both the merchant and the police department.
According to Wyoming Detective James Maguffee, "They've got a great track record...It's just been a phenomenal success."[2]
In Switzerland, Securitas provides police services for more than 30 Swiss villages and townships. Paradise Island also has a private police force.
In 1975, Oro Valley, Arizona contracted for police services with Rural/Metro Fire Department but the arrangement was challenged by the Arizona Law Enforcement Officers Advisory Council. Rural/Metro could not pay the legal fees needed to fight the challenge and the arrangement was ended in 1977.
In some cases, private police are deputized in order to ensure compliance with the law, but continue to be paid by the hour so that money can be saved by releasing them during slow times; as when
In the United States, policy manuals for policing are written by Lexipol, a private company, which are then implemented by thousands of law enforcement agencies, particularly small and medium-sized departments.[4]
See also
- Private prison
- Private security
- Private police
References
- ^ "Rent-a-Narc". Newsweek. August 27, 1973.
- ^ "Rise in check fraud leads to new investigative team - Advance Newspapers - MLive.com". 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-1574-8.
- ^ Eagly, Ingrid V.; Schwartz, Joanna C (2018-04-05). "Lexipol". Texas Law Review. 96 (5). Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2020-06-02.