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Crime Prevention & the Role of Private Security

Anil Puri,
CMD, APS Group

A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. Here he examines the concept of crime prevention and the expanding role of private security companies.


The trends abroad

The new landscape of blended roles – law enforcement agencies teaming up with the private security companies i.e., enabling public-private partnerships to serve the public – may be new to the Indian subcontinent but it has been experimented successfully by quite a few nations like United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Nigeria and South Africa. Despite the fact that police and private security operate on quite different principles of private and public interests, there does seem to be, or rather there is an obvious scope for their enhanced relationships that provide wide benefits to diverse stakeholders, provided a well-defined set of guiding principles are in place for ensuring accountability and optimal outcomes in crime prevention partnerships. These partnerships may cover a range of specialties including cyber security, financial criminal investigation and private protection.

Law enforcement agencies leverage the expertise and resources of private security firms to better investigate and solve complex cases. Private firms aren’t restricted by a public budget and can invest in the latest technologies. Additionally, law enforcement officers often moonlight with security companies and/ or transition into the careers in private security as they have a better understanding of the system and to facilitate working of law enforcement agencies to better serve the people.

Bipolarity of the roles

The extent to which the private security industry has a role in proactive policing is an issue. At present the private security industry performs reactive functions in relation to crime; these may include armed response, transporting cash and conducting investigations. Proactive policing is more concerned with conducting crime analyses, working together with the community to understand crime concerns, and strategizing to address safety and security related issues and targeting of criminal and disorderly behavior. In addition to guarding, security companies also provide armed response or alarm response, by monitoring alarms and dispatching security personnel (Quick Reaction Team – QRT) when the alarm is triggered. Although the guarding industry employs the bulk of security personnel, more clients are serviced through the armed response component of the security industry.

Private security companies also provide armed escort services whereby they offer escorts to transport cash, assets and confidential documents. Some security companies also provide services during sporting or entertainment events, conduct investigations and security training, and become involved in various aspects relating to the provision and installation of monitoring equipment and security devices. One of the aims is for the police, together with the private security industry, to create an environment in which the security expectations of the public where huge resources are expended are actually met.

Indian context

The ‘law enforcement and private security’ share a number of common goals including crime prevention, the protection of people and property, and identification of criminals. The growing use of these partnerships reflects some recognized advantages. The deployment of security guards for traffic control, safeguarding metros and rails, escorting buses, and securing hospitals, government buildings, factories, shopping malls, and schools etc., aims mainly to offset the skewed police-public ratio. The PSIs are performing a significant and dominating role in the cash-in-transit business. However, the utilization of the skill-set and resources of the private investigative agencies that are the members of the Association of Private Detective & Investigators (APDI) are not being fully harnessed. Further, the reach of PSIs to be used as an information/ intelligence gathering resource can be a game-changer, if exploited properly.

Conclusion

Conclusively, I feel that the partnership between the police and the private security industry once integrated can pay huge dividends in leveraging the potential and expertise of both in the larger canvas of internal security and crime prevention. The need of the hour is to ensure restructuring, co-ordination, and operational and partnership mechanisms for an effective collaboration, in compliance with the public safety policing concepts of the ‘operation co-operation’ in regards to civility, transparency and cordial relativity between security stakeholders and not just the template theory.



 

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