Publications
History
of Private Security, Part 2
John H. Christman, CPP
1800
- World War II
The year 1829 is generally conceded as the year in which the real beginnings
of a modern police system took place. It was in this year that Sir Robert
Peel, Home Secretary of England, guided a bill through Parliament entitled
"An Act for Improving the Police in and Near the Metropolis".
This legislation authorized a new uniformed, full-time salaried 1600-member
police force.
These features,
coupled with other new ideas such as rigorous pre-employment screening,
semi-military principles of discipline, and lifetime tenure (provided
established standards were maintained) resulted in a growth of the force
to over 3200 men within three years.
Of historical
note is the fact that the headquarters of this new force was on a small
London side street called Scotland Yard; and that the term "Bobbie"
which is recognized worldwide as the nickname for London police officers,
derives out of respect for Sir Robert.
In the United
States. such famous lawmen as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett,
"Wild Bill" Hickok, along with the Texas Rangers, all gained
fame in the "Old West" for their own methods of bringing law
and order to the frontier.
In the East,
cities were growing and forming their more formalized police departments.
True police agencies, following Peel's example, began to flourish in the
1800s. Police departments were established in New York (1844), Chicago
(1850), Cincinnati (l852), Philadelphia (1855) and Detroit (1865).
On a national
level, crime was also a problem, and we see the federal government forming
investigative agencies; the Post Office Investigative Service was formed
in 1828, the law enforcement arm of the Treasury Department in 1864 and
the U.S. Justice Department in 1902 began its law enforcement
arm which was the forerunner of the FBI - which as we know it today, began
in 1932 under J. Edgar Hoover.
It was in
the mid to late 1880s that modern-day private security had its beginnings.
Alan Pinkerton, who was born in Scotland, emigrated to the U.S. after
his police officer father died when Alan was a small boy. In 1850, after
four years as deputy sheriff in Cane County, Illinois, Pinkerton was made
a deputy in Cook County (Chicago). Later, he became a special agent of
the U.S. Post Office Department, and then Chicago's first and only police
detective. He then left the police department to form a private detective
agency, specializing in providing investigative and security services
for railroads and industrial organizations.
Pinkerton's
reputation as a "master sleuth" led to his acquiring a national
reputation. During the Civil War, Pinkerton's and its agents provided
the Union with the organization for intelligence and counter-espionage
services and also served to provide personal protection for President
Lincoln.
After the
Civil War, Pinkerton returned to private clients, and because of the relatively
few number of public law enforcement agencies coupled with jurisdictional
restrictions, he provided the only investigative agency with truly national
capabilities.
In 1889,
Brinks Incorporated was formed to protect property and payrolls. In 1909,
William J. Burns, Inc. formed a private detective agency and became the
investigative arm of the American Banking Association. The Pinkerton,
Brinks and Burns companies all continue in business today.
Simultaneous
with the founding and growth of the 'original three,' the various railroads,
which had great political power, got state legislatures to pass Railroad
Police Acts authorizing the railroads to establish their own security
forces with full police powers. By 1914, over 12,000 railroad police agents
were in operations
World
War II
World War II was the real source and stimulus of the modern and complex
private security industry. Private security in a sense was born of the
war, went through adolescence during the Cold War period, and reached
maturity in the 1960s - and continues to grow and prosper all the while
developing more
specialization and sophistication.
The military
services in W.W. II trained thousands of men in law enforcement (MPs,
SPs, CID, etc.) and in the various intelligence services (OSS, ONI, CIC,
etc.). At the same time, the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) and other federal agencies (and their counterparts in the
other Allied nations) were expanding to counter-sabotage and espionage
threats.
Additionally,
thousands of others were trained as auxiliary police and plant guards
to provide physical security at home and in defense plants. By 1945, there
were literally thousands of businesses, plants, factories, etc. engaged
in 'classified' government or war contracts. Each of these facilities
required
physical security, thus producing a large pool of personnel trained -
to some degree at least - in 'security.'
After the war, this large resource of military police, intelligence agents,
auxiliary police and plant security guards entered the civilian work force
with hopes of putting their wartime training to use in the civilian marketplace.
The Cold
War produced, among its many ramifications, the continued need for classified
defense contracts thus requiring these now civilian-oriented operations
to maintain some degree of security. Additionally, the many employees
who worked in these facilities needed security clearances, thus creating
the need for a large force of investigators to do background investigations
in order to grant security 'clearances.'
Congressional
committees and government agencies of all sorts began investigating both
aspects of the 'War' and contemporaneous domestic matters requiring more
hundreds of investigators. Thus, while the war itself gave birth to the
multitudes of personnel trained in security and investigations, it was
the post-war period which provided a means for them to use their training
in the civilian world.
The trend
begun during the Cold War to use investigative and security trained personnel
by both government and civilian agencies and private business in numbers
never before visualized not only continued, but increased after the so-called
Cold War years - albeit for somewhat different reasons.
As the Cold War thawed, and the need for private security normally would
have abated, the concurrent increase in street crime and white collar
business crime began escalating, more than taking up the slack in the
need for private security and its many related specialties.
By the mid-70s,
the best available statistics indicated that there were over 500,000 persons
engaged in private security and that this number exceeded those engaged
in public law enforcement. By 1985, estimates place the number of persons
in private security jobs at 700,000 - exceeding those in the public
sector by at least 100,000. Most observers agree that the private security
growth will continue to outstrip the public sector.
One has
only to peruse one of the numerous trade or professional publications
devoted to private security to appreciate the growth of this industry.
An examination of the organizations devoted to the private security profession
(and it truly has become a profession) reveals both the wide-spread applications
of the profession and its diversity.
Organizations
range from those with a very broad membership base (e.g., the American
Society for Industrial Security) to those with rather specialized interests
(e.g., organizations devoted to credit card fraud, hospital security,
banking security, multi-national corporation executive protection and
anti-terrorism organizations, etc.).
Naturally,
when considering the scope of private security and its economic implications,
we must also consider all the supporting functions which accompany the
practicing security professional, such as training schools, equipment
manufacturers, expositions and seminars, consultants, and yes, even these
specialized books and literature devoted to the subject.
The future
of private security is (on balance) bright, but only if some cautions
are exercised. The rapid growth of our industry, over the past two or
three decades, has also given rise to some challenges which our profession
must meet and overcome if it is to enjoy both continued growth and the
respect and
confidence of its clients, the public, and governmental and regulatory
agencies.
Some of
the challenges facing us are:
Professionalism:
The caliber of persons entering private security with a long-term commitment
to grow in and with the industry continues to improve. We must encourage
this trend by improving pay scales (particularly for entry level positions
and uniformed guard personnel) and by offering opportunities
for upward mobility for qualified persons.
Training
is the key to this challenge. No longer can we hire someone and put them
on assignment with only a new uniform and a pat on the back. The ASIS
(American Society for Industrial Security) Certified Protection Professional
CPP) professional certification program and the efforts of the Protection
Officer Security Academy's Certified Protection Officer (CPO) program
directed primarily toward uniformed security officers are both noteworthy
steps in the right direction.
Legal Status
& Liability: With few exceptions, private security personnel have
no police powers beyond those of their fellow citizens. Their work, however,
is quasi-Iaw enforcement in nature and thus they interact with and confront
their fellow citizens in adversarial situations very much like public
police. Effort must be made to keep the distinction clear and to concentrate
private security efforts on asset protection and loss prevention programs.
When apprehensions and arrests must be made, it is essential that the
procedures followed are both legal and ethical. The courts of many jurisdictions
are just beginning to realize the full extent of the private security
industry and how frequently its practitioners interact with the public.
These court
reviews of arrest, privacy, malicious prosecution, assault and search
& seizure issues to name a few are producing both constantly changing
rules and laws under which private security must operate, as well as large
money judgments against both security companies and individual security
officers when their behavior violates often-changing and unclear 'rules
of the game.'
Image: The
public's perception of private security is rapidly outgrowing the 'rent-a-cop'
or 'floor walker' image, but there is still room for improving both the
relationship between and the perception of us by police agencies.
The International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has recently officially recognized
our industry and formally noted our contribution to crime prevention and
control, and has urged its members to work for a closer degree of cooperation
between the public and private sectors.
Proprietary
Security: Corporations now expect its security personnel, particularly
those in middle and upper management positions, to be more than simple
'security experts'. Businesses today expect their security to come out
of its traditional isolation and to get into and contribute to the mainstream
of
the business venture.
Certainly
security expertise is still essential, but in addition security executives
are expected to be knowledgeable of general business concepts, the goals
of their organization, and to make a contribution in these areas. Top
management is looking for a larger return on their investment of security
dollars.
Contract
Security: Those businesses which hire contract security are demanding
more than simply a person with a uniform, badge and gun. Business is becoming
more and more sensitive to its 'image' and how it is perceived by the
public. The public rarely distinguishes whether a security guard is contract
or 'in-house' - the guard represents and 'is' the company. Therefore,
a guard who is slovenly in appearance, rude, unknowledgeable, or who makes
a serious legal error in accomplishing his duties becomes either unacceptable
or a serious liability - or both.
Thus, the
contract officer must be well trained not only in the technical aspects
of his job, but also in the expectations of the client employer, and must
be a knowledgeable and courteous representative of the client. The contract
security officer must be sensitive to the unique relationship that exists
between he or she and the client.
Summary
Traditionally, society's efforts to prevent and control crime have been
the province of public (government) law enforcement, although private
'security' efforts have been woven into the fabric of crime control since
earliest times.
Beginning
in the second half of the 20th century, private security (whether proprietary
or contractual) has taken an increasingly larger role in crime control
and prevention, so that as of 1985 the resources of money (over $20 billion
annually) and personnel (over 700,000) exceeds that of public law enforcement.
Indeed, the most recent trend is the 'privatization' of functions such
as running jails and prisons which were previously the jobs of government
exclusively.
Private
security is big business (over one per cent of the GNP of the U.S.) in
all free-world countries and ranges from the single owner/operator private
detective agency or security consultant through national contract security
guard companies and investigative agencies, to multi-national security
firms and alarm companies. The thousands of proprietary security personnel,
working only for a single employer and in his interests only, must also
be included.
The industry,
because of its size, has begun to attract the attention of legislatures
and of the courts, and in those instances where self-restraint and legal
and ethical considerations are neglected, the legislatures and courts
are establishing the standards under which we are required to operate.
In other
cases, the courts are also punishing, through monetary awards to injured
parties, those private security practitioners who 'go too far' and offend
public sensibilities.
The industry
is also growing in sophistication and professionalism. It is attracting
personnel and leaders who would be a credit to any profession. With both
continued growth and professionalism, which seems assured, the future
of private security and that of those in the profession, seems bright.
Footnotes:
1. Henry Campbell Block, "Black's Law Dictionary," (St. Paul,
Minnesota; West Publishing Company, 1951) P 1028
2. Green and Farber, "Introduction to Security," (Los Angeles,
California: Security World Publishing Co., Inc., 1975) p 27
3. For a thorough discussion and detailed analysis of the relationship
between private security and public law enforcement in America, see William
C.Cunningham & Todd H. Taylor, "The Hallcrest Report: Private
Security and Police in America," 1985, Chancellor Press, 7316 Hooking
Road, McLean,Virginia 22101
©John
Christman
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