Public Private Police
Relationship between private and public police
Before discussing the relationship between private and public police it is important to understand what the terms policing, private space, and public space mean. Policing can be defined as the "preservation of peace, that is, to the maintenance of a way of doing things where persons and property are free from unwarranted interference so that people may go about doing their businesses normally" (Clifford, 1992). A public space can be defined as a space that is generally open and accessible to all whereas a private space has restrictions of access.
For quite a long time it has been the duty of public police to protect the society and the property that fall under the defined areas of operation. However, in present day it is common to find private and public police working together regularly at both private and public functions. Although some similarities may be found between these two groups and complement each other in various ways, there are some key differences. The first notable one is on the training which is more rigorous for the public police as compared to the private police. Public police also face more demanding standards and certification than their private counterparts. It is obvious that the private police have very limited legal powers which are fully offered to the public police. Nevertheless, private police have access to the resources necessary for developing specializations which far exceeds the capability of most public police agencies. Even though there is much that these two groups can offer...
Some public police feel that the training given to private police is insufficient especially for those allowed to carry weapons. There is also the feeling of competition with the public police feeling that private police are threatening their domain. Due to lack of understanding of the complex and wide capabilities, functions, and resources that public police have with respect to private police, the end up not appreciating their role. This also makes the private police feel that public police do not regard them as important until it comes to the time when they are considering joining that field.
These differences have been recognized by some large private security agencies and have found it important to reduce this gap. One of the steps that have been taken is the adoption of better training of the private officers in order to attain higher levels of professionalism. This will make them compete favorably with the public police and also cooperate easily. This high level of professionalism has even made private police a preferred lot among head CEOs and important political and celebrity figures. Additionally, even large businesses and even airports where mostly public users are found are now being protected by private security (Li, 2008). Such emerging trends are bringing a change in the relationship between these two groups which is becoming more positive. The community has also realized…
