Regulating The Security Industry

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of government-based licensing and minimum standards imposed on the security industry in relation to selection, training, and licensing in select countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. The chapters in this book were originally published in the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice.

It is widely acknowledged that the size of the security industry has increased in virtually every country around the world, often eclipsing conventional police forces in personnel numbers and expenditures. Security providers differ from law enforcement officers in many ways, yet the nature of their crime reduction activities brings them into frequent contact with citizens, drawing to the forefront issues of training, professionalism and accountability. Unlike police officers, whose training and licensing standards are well established, regulations for security providers are often minimalist or entirely absent. This volume brings together research on regulatory regimes and strategies from around the globe, covering both the large private security sector and the expanding area of public sector ‘non-police’ protective security. It examines the nature and extent of licensing and monitoring, and the minimum standards imposed on the industry by governments across the world. The chapters in this book were originally published in the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice.

The Security Industry Authority, the body which licences security guards, door supervisors and vehicle immobilisers, has secured a high level of compliance by people working in the industry with the requirement to be licensed. As at the end of May 2008, the Authority had issued over 248,000 licences and compliance is over 90 per cent. Its efficiency has, however, been hampered by poor forecasting of licensing demand and costs and difficulties with the computerised systems procured to process licence applications. When the Authority was created in 2003, the licence fee was set at £190 but it was costing the Authority £215 to process an application. As a result, the Authority needed an additional £17.4 million of public funding between 2004-05 and 2007-08 to carry out its work. In the winter of 2005-06, the Authority's original system for producing licences was unable to cope with the large number of later than planned applications the Authority received. In autumn 2007, the Authority's replacement system was not ready on time and a backlog of applications arose. These two problems resulted in the Authority incurring additional costs of £1 million. The Private Security Industry Act 2001 set up the Authority to regulate individuals, but in a number of other countries the equivalent bodies also regulate businesses. The NAO recommends that in addition to individuals all private security businesses should be registered with the Authority. The SIA has already started a feasibility study to consider the compulsory registration of private security companies.

The under-regulation of the private security industry has increasingly become a topic of media and academic interest. This Adelphi Paper enters the debate by explaining why the industry requires further regulation, and what is wrong with the current system. It begins by briefly defining the industry and explaining the need for more effective regulation, before analysing three types of regulation: domestic, international and informal (including self-regulation).

The under-regulation of the private security industry has increasingly become a topic of media and academic interest. This Adelphi Paper enters the debate by explaining why the industry requires further regulation, and what is wrong with the current system. It begins by briefly defining the industry and explaining the need for more effective regulation, before analysing three types of regulation: domestic, international and informal (including self-regulation).

The use of private security companies (PSCs) to provide security services has been on the rise since the end of the Cold War, with PSCs operating in a number of contexts, including armed conflict and areas where the rule of law has been compromised. The use of private actors to perform services that are traditionally associated with the state is not limited to PSCs, but is emblematic of a growing trend by governments to outsource functions with a view to improving efficiency and cutting budgets. Privatization of public functions can, however, present a number of challenges to existing national and international regulatory and oversight frameworks. In the private security sector these challenges were brought to international attention after high-profile incidents in which PSCs injured civilians revealed difficulties in effectively holding international PSCs accountable. This paper argues that crafting a multistakeholder regulatory approach in which key stakeholders work together to develop standards that are appropriately adapted for the private sector, as well as to create governance and oversight mechanisms to hold these private actors to effective account, helps to fill some of the governance gaps found in traditional regulatory approaches. It recounts the developments leading to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICOC) and its governance and oversight mechanism, the ICOC Association, offering an example of the development of an initiative which sets new international standards and elaborates a multistakeholder framework and approach to governance for the private security sector. A recent trend of state and non-state clients requiring compliance with the ICOC initiative in their contracts with PSCs offers a new take on binding international regulation of private actors.

First published in 1996, this work covers all the major sectors of policing in the United States. Political events such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have created new policing needs while affecting public opinion about law enforcement. This third edition of the "Encyclopedia" examines the theoretical and practical aspects of law enforcement, discussing past and present practices.