Historical Development of Private Security in the United States

¶ … private security in the United States is indelibly related to U.S. history in general, for the simple fact that prior to the founding of the country, security -- in its most basic form -- was essentially handled by civilians. This occurrence was common before the colonies became organized and before there were official police or even federal troops. Perhaps the apex of this tendency on the part of the American people to become privately involved in issues of security was in the era during the Colonial War, when privateering was extremely profitable for a number of westernized nations. For the most part, privateers were little more than pirates; yet they still managed to combine their personal interests with that of their country during the aforementioned martial encounter.

Private security as it is known in its current conception in the U.S. began in earnest during the midway point of the 19th century with the arrival of Allan Pinkerton, an immigrant who founded the country's first private security company in 1850, the National Detective Agency (Bureau of Security, 2013). Pinkerton did more to support the growth of the private security industry than virtually anyone since. That growth was largely linked to the advancements in technologies of which Pinkerton managed to take advantage. Midway through the 19th century the U.S. was still expanding westward. Its railway system was in place, but the government did not have the financial resources or the manpower to fully protect passengers and employees at all of the various stations across the country. Some of Pinkerton's most valuable work came in the form of protecting various railroad stations and personnel, especially since, at that time, there were no federal agents travelling between states to monitor the activities of bandits (Bureau of Security, 2013).

The lack of efficacy of conventional public forces (the police and the military) was no small aid in encouraging the rapid deployments of private security companies such as Pinkerton's. Because of the provincial nature of law enforcement, fleeing criminals merely had to flee the state or the town they were in to evade authorities. The limited communication devices of the time were a further hindrance to law enforcement agencies. In contrast, private security companies could afford to hire out men to chase down criminals as far as the former wanted. The expansion of the railroad and of Pinkerton's agency was parallel, and helped to vastly increase the growth of private security companies on a national scale.

The turn towards the professionalism of private security companies fully emerged near the turn of the twentieth century. By this time, individuals employed by such agencies performed a number of tasks including, but not limited to: pursuing criminals, investigating crimes, as well as facilitating standard security jobs for businesses such as banks, railways, and stagecoaches. The regulation of this industry, then, was attributed to improvements in law enforcement -- specifically in terms of the federal government. In the 20th century, the government could employ agents to go across state lines while pursuing criminals. There were two substantial ramifications of this fact. Firstly, some of the deployments of private security employees decreased because local and federal officials could now afford to man them. Secondly, formal regulation was attributed to the industry to make it as lawful and official as law enforcement had now become.

In that respect, there were several pieces of legislation that were passed to make private security professionals accountable to a uniform standard. One of the first legal mandates that was passed was California's licensing requirement for private investigators, which was facilitated by the Administration of the State Board of Prison Directors. These licensing requirements mandated individuals to receive proper training and to adhere to standard codes of conduct and practice, and were a significant step towards abandoning the concept of vigilante justice which many private security companies felt capable of administering. Other substantial legislature passed regulating the activities of private security companies passed in the early part of the 20th century included the Private Investigator Act, the Collection Agency Act, and the 1973 formation of The Bureau of Collections and Investigative Services. Additional legislature would include that which specifically applied to firearms, burglar alarm systems, locksmiths, and just about every other type of security not provided by formal police or military entities.