The Privatization of Police in America

Today the private security industry employs approximately 1.5 million people and spends over $52 billion annually. In contrast, public police forces employ approximately 600,000 people and spend $30 billion annually. Private policing promises to be a big part of the response to today’s increased security concerns, as citizens realize that security is much more than the presence of guards and the perception of safety.

This book addresses the impact and implications of private policing on public streets, and begins with a look at private policing from conceptual, historical, economic, legal and functional perspectives. These approaches provide the background for the text, which focuses on a private policing patrol program in a community on the south side of Chicago. The text also demonstrates a number of substantive legal and public policy issues which directly or indirectly relate to the provision of security services; some people see the need for a “dual system” of policing–one for the wealthy and one for the poor–and others see the provision of private security as the primary protective resource in contemporary America. The author also examines how private policing is different from and similar to public policing.

Attorney James F. Pastor lives in Naples, Florida.

James F. Pastor
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 220
Bibliographic Info: tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2003
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1574-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8142-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      ix

I. Personal Security and Constitutional Rights: Post-9/11 America      1
II. Privatization and Public Safety      15
III. Historical Developments in Private Policing      33
IV. Policing in Contemporary Circumstances      46
V. A Legal Overview of Private Policing      67
VI. Privatization Environments      84
VII. Marquette Park: A Case Study      101
VIII. Where Do We Go from Here?      164

Appendix A: Map of Marquette Park Special Service Area No. 14      185
Appendix B: Comparison of Security Firm Bids      187
Notes      191
Bibliography      193
Index      201

• “The author raises interesting issues and generates thought-provoking insights”—Security Management