Introduction
Security involves the protection of property, persons, as well as the deterrence of crimes within society as prescribed by law. For a very long time, the issue of security has been a duty of the government towards its people through the police as the main players who provide security to citizens within a country and the army, which is in charge of providing security of a country against aggression from outside its borders. As a service, running security is expensive and expansive in such a way that not even well-equipped government agencies are deemed adequate to provide it. This has therefore led to the emergence of private security to supplement the government and give satisfaction to private citizens who can afford it. The paper addresses the future of this class of security. However, it begins by giving a brief highlight of it as applied by various countries.
Private Security as it is
Private security in most countries varies in accordance with the law and the level of security to be accorded. Private security companies mainly provide it. The level of security, in this case, varies from the way security agents are armed and the functions they can perform as permitted by law. Some private security agents are allowed to carry firearms and or to perform limited police functions that almost equate them to the police while some are only required to carry a baton as the only weapon they can use in the deterrence of a crime. Private security spans from simple security agents who work within a certain locality to the sophisticated private military that can be hired by countries to provide highly sophisticated protection to facilities wherever they are. The need to boost security by organizations and people, in general, has led to the massive recruitment of security personnel to perform security duties to supplement what the government can offer. Some governments have used private security in some instances to circumvent the law especially on human rights where the government has to be answerable. Private security has been mostly used in the protection of private property and individual persons who wish to enhance their security for their own reasons. An increase in insecurity in the world has led to a rise in demand for private security due to its availability as compared to the one accorded by the government. Government security on the other hand is limited to just within a given country’s borders. Most of the time, it cannot rely upon way beyond a given country’s border in such places as deep seas. The need by society to protect wealth has also fueled the need for private security in places like banks, art museums, and places where highly sensitive documents need to be moved from place to place. Individual persons who feel that they need security for their personal protection have also led to the increase in private security arrangements to fill out where the police service of a given nation cannot cope or are not allowed to work. Private security companies have an international code that was signed in the year 2010. It provides a policy guideline to companies on how to run their affairs and be in tandem with the international laws that govern security management. What is the future of private security? The Future of Private Security
The future of private security is a topic of much interest because of the trends of the world brought about by globalization. New challenges are always coming up that put to test the need for private security as well its management all over the world. The challenges faced by private security forces and their solutions too have to be addressed in a forecasting manner. One of the challenges that private securities have brought about includes their usurping of government security service roles with almost the same authority as government agencies. Private security should be able to tackle the problem brought about by globalization, which will define its future in a big way. Therefore, there are both opportunities and threats to the future of private security. The future of private security can be addressed along with the following areas:
Recruitment Challenges
The recruitment of private security personnel is a fundamental area for observation due to its function as the feeder of personnel in that sector. A person given the job of securing anything is one who is seen to be worth the trust to keep safe whatever he or she has been entrusted with thus requiring someone who is law-abiding and without a criminal record. Due to demand that is expected to rise in the future, recruitment will be a sensitive issue because private security companies have for a while going into a frenzy of recruiting staff members without making background checks on their past. In most cases, this desperation to recruit staff has been driven by the fact that not many people are attracted to do security jobs. As Cowen and Siciliano (2011) find out, “the cycling of bodies from incarceration to active duty raises some pointed questions about the social and security” (p. 1517). They go ahead to point out that the criminal justice system has a big role in protecting all types of economies around people. The big question that therefore comes out is whether people can entrust their wealth with persons with criminal records who are in the records to serve jail terms for breaking the law. Will lawbreakers be entrusted with keeping the same law they are known to have broken? This fundamental question seems to bog the private security sector in terms of its ability to select the right people for the job of securing other people and their properties in the future. Private security will only be trusted if it is proved that it has the mechanism of doing background checks on individuals applying for jobs in its firms. Most personnel taking up private security jobs are ex-military people who have ended their tours of duty. From this group, private security firms usually find already trained personnel who might not require further training because people have more than needed experience to do their jobs. The tricky bit about ex-military members is that not all of them have clean past records and some of them are ex-convicts. This happens because, when the government is desperate to raise army nubs for combat duty abroad, it makes waiver qualify such people into the army. It also recruits from youth detention facilities. Thus, when this group of people comes out, all that can be said about them is that they came from the army. Therefore, when they apply for security jobs, they get them. This puts the security of people who are using private security at a risk thus making the future private security arrangement risky. Therefore, private security companies have a daunting task in the future in ensuring that the staffs they recruit have a sound ethical background because they are entrusted with highly valuable property to safeguard. There have been cases where highly valuable items like artworks have been stolen from highly secured places. These places are secured privately through the private security arrangement. Thus, when such robberies happen, they simply point out to an inside job that must have involved collusion from the security.
Regulation of Private Security
The increase in demand for private security has led to an influx of firms coming up to provide the service at different levels. The biggest challenge that the government faces now and probably in the future is how to monitor most of these firms and their activities because it is the duty of the government to provide security for all. The inclusion of private security in people’s daily lives is for enhancing their own security. At the end of the day, even private security is answerable to government security. This, therefore, calls for regulation of security firms, the services they provide, and the scope of their services. Most private security firms have given themselves more powers and authority than what the law prescribes for them. According to the law, private security agents are not allowed to make arrests without a license though they can make a citizen arrest meaning they can only arrest their individual capacity and not in their official capacity. This qualifies as one of the most cited areas that need to be looked into when thinking about the regulation of private security in the future due to many complaints that are brought forward about their blatant breach of the same law they are supposed to safeguard. Other than efforts put in by the government to regulate the industry, there is also the need for the industry to put up self-regulatory measures in the future that will enable players to safeguard the name of the industry as well as their interests. Part of these internal regulatory measures should include lobbying for the passing of laws that will recognize the internal regulatory mechanisms within the industry that will give power to whatever body will be formed to do the job. Regulation of registered security companies should also touch on the scope of the companies’ work both within the country and outside the country. Most private security providers providing military contracting services have ended up being a source of instability to other countries when they have been hired to cause instability in those regions. Thus, at the end of the day, they will become a source of insecurity to society though they are supposed to be a source of security. The challenges that have brought about the need for regulation are the problems of globalization. Globalization has led to an increase in new security threats in the world. When wrong people hire private security with all the security expertise, the world will no longer be a safe place to be. Globalization has led to such problems as terrorism, which have taken a more sophisticated approach due to the amount of money the players can afford to invest in terrorist activities (Whittaker, 2007, p. 23). Such enticement is expected to be more dangerous for society due to what money can move people to do. Therefore, when there is proper regulation between the government and cooperation from the industry, such threats to the industry can be minimized.
Forecasting and Crime Prevention
The 21st-century society has seen the world change from a very predictable place to a very dynamic place that cannot be easily predictable. Society has grown wealthier. There are more middle class and rich members of society than before. Technology has also increased greatly and has become an integral part of society. With all these, there comes the challenge of how to tackle issues of insecurity due to globalization and other developments (Kalesnykas, 2012, p. 2). Private security firms and their services will only remain relevant when they are able to match up to the challenges brought about by societal changes. Therefore, in the future, there is a need to invest in technology and research for security people to be able to forecast any imminent dangers that might be forthcoming. The work of security is stopping and preventing the same from happening and thus need to be up to the task in doing the same. There is therefore the need for the private security firms to come up with ways of forecasting crime before it happens because this is the only way for them to remain relevant. Just like fashion, crime follows a certain trend. Some of the latest trends involve cybercrimes and very old but revived crimes like piracy. In the case of piracy, the crime was almost an extinct one. Nevertheless, due to the availability of havens for such criminal activities, piracy is expected to come out as one of the most lucrative crimes. The increase of piracy will lead to most shipping lines employing their own security for their ships and goods or hiring security from private firms due to the limited jurisdiction their national police will have. The ability to forecast will make these firms very competitive and reliable in providing security services to their clients. This one way will ensure their survival in the future. Forecasting on the other hand provides the readiness that should come with rapid responsiveness, which is a key element in crime prevention. Crime can be predictable. On the other hand, it can be unpredictable. Therefore, its prevention will be paramount regardless of either two. On the other hand, cybercrime has become the most lucrative type of crime for all actors in the industry. To criminals, cybercrime can be committed while in the comfort of their bedrooms thus paying a lot. To the security firms, it pays a premium to sort it. Therefore, private security firms need to invest in technology and research that will give them an advantage that will make them remain relevant and more pronounced in the future.
Conclusion
Private security has a bright future in the so dynamic world. The need for an increase in budgetary allocation to security departments in most countries has been met with opposition due to other pressing needs that the society faces and which compete for the same funds. Therefore, this has made the government-offered security inadequate for society and thus increase the need for private security services, which are now easily available. Private security, therefore, needs to package itself in a way that will make it remain relevant to societal needs thus its needs to be flexible in the future.
References
Cowen, D., & Siciliano, A. (2011). Surplus Masculinities and Security. The Authors Antipode, 43(5), 1516-1541.
Kalesnykas, R. (2012). European Union Security Strategy: Globalization and New Challenges. Issues of Business & Law, 4(1), 1-11.
Whittaker, D. (2007). Terrorism-Understanding the Global Threat. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.