Sara Jones
CJS/250
December 16, 2012
Gregg Hercheck
Relationship between Private and Public Police
For decades, the relationship between private and public police officers has been a topic of debate. Both private and public police officers have the responsibility of providing protection to the public. Even though both have this responsibility, the societal views of private and public police remains fuzzy. One view that has remained constant is that society needs private police just as much as they need public police for security and protection.
The job of the police, whether they are private or public, is to protect and serve their communities. It does not matter if they are contracted out to police a type of business or if they are government officials who police a community; they still have the same responsibilities. Public police officers are paid by the citizens of their community, while private police are hired by people or organizations to serve a protective purpose. Public police are trained by the government to handle crime prevention, while private police are trained by the people who hire them.
Oftentimes, private police are former military or former public police who have decided to seek work in the private sector. Even though each type of police has similar duties, their responsibilities differ greatly.
When police officers first came into being, it was their responsibility to provide protection to all of the community and property that existed within their jurisdiction. However, in today’s society, public and private police are seen working hand-in-hand on a regular basis at both public and private functions (Nova).
Public police also work with private security officials quite often, in order to ensure the safety of valuable assets. Throughout the United States certain areas, such as Boston Massachusetts, have given the private police officers the power to arrest people, due to the lack of
References: Clifford, M. (2004). Identifying and Exploring Security Essentials, (2nd ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Government Gazzete. (2002, January). Retrieved from http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=68158 Schneier, B. (2007, February). Private Police Forces. Private Police Forces, Retrieved from http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/private_police.html Nova Agency Company Police. Retrieved from http://www.nova-agency.org/CompanyPolice.html