Regulation and Control of the Private Security Industry (From Themes in Contemporary Policing, P 105-119, 1996, William Saulsbury, Joy Mott, and Tim Newburn, eds. -- See NCJ-166841)

• NCJ Number: 166850
• Author(s): T Jones; T Newburn
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Independent Cmtte of Inquiry into the Role and Responsibilities of the Police
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This overview of the regulation and control of the private security industry in Great Britain focuses on the need for regulation and models of regulation.

Abstract

The significant growth of private security in Great Britain in recent years, together with the expansion in the range of tasks it undertakes, has focused attention on the need for regulation and control of the industry. Currently, there is no formal statutory system of licensing for private security personnel in Britain. This is in contrast to almost every other western European nation. The major issues that underlie calls for regulation concern low pay, levels of training in the industry, the reliability of private security personnel, standards of service, and the protection of privacy. Models of regulation that could be adopted include voluntary or statutory self-regulation, or statutory public regulation. The latter could take one of several forms: central government control and local authority control. The growing demands for regulation will probably result in some action from the Home Secretary, whose support for voluntary self-regulation may have been weakened by the change of heart of the British Security Industry Association; however, the government's free market philosophy sits uneasily with state regulation. These and other factors suggest that the model of regulation selected will be based on the existing industry inspectorates. 28 references