Private Security: A Case for Excellence

     The need to protect our person and property is a universal truth that is as old as the human race.  It is a common thread that runs throughout the fabric of our society and the subject of a global theme that transcends continents and business interests.

     Property ownership took on more responsibility for their property when it became evident that sheer numbers prevented police from providing around the clock protection.  The private security industry was born of this necessity, and it has grown proportionately with society's increased ability to acquire more property.

     The lessons that were not learned in the Oklahoma City bombing were driven home with cataclysmic emphasis on the world's stage September 11, 2001.  What had been national became global, and an international cast of law enforcement and private security organizations responded.

     No longer could any business owners, travelers or workers feel 100 percent safe in any public or private gathering place.  Following the lead of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, organizations such as the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS International), the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) began exchanging information on a regular basis, including attending international conferences.  Interagency meetings held at Johns Hopkins University reached similar conclusions.

     Congress, concerned with the security industry's lack of self-regulation in the face of the terrorist threat, annually pushes proposed legislation to better screen potential security officers and force other upgrades.

     Since 9-11, America's law enforcement agencies have scrambled to respond to public outcries for them to not only perform their normal duties, but also take on the added demands of homeland security, according to a report issued in 2004 by the IACP.  According to the IACP report, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics indicated there were 17,384 state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. in 2000, employing 708,000 full-time, sworn officers.  Another 88,500 federal officers brought the total to 796,500 law enforcement officers.  That same report quoted studies suggesting that as many as 90,000 security companies currently operate in the United States, employing about 2 million security guards.  The IACP report states that by some estimates, 85 percent of the country's critical infrastructure is protected by private security.

     The numbers made it imperative that public and private officers combine their efforts and share information to tighten security across the country.  This means that even small business owners who employ private security companies are benefiting from information gathered from global conferences.

     The enforcement groups based their work in part, on "relentless preparation," a philosophy to deal with terrorists first stated by former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani after 9-11.

     The IACP report goes on to define "private security" as consisting of corporate security departments, guard companies, alarm companies, armored car businesses, investigative firms, security equipment manufacturers, and others.  A security practitioner could be an experienced director of security at a major multinational corporation, a manager of contract security officers at a client site, a skilled computer crime investigator, an armed protector at a nuclear power plant, or an entry-level guard at a retail store.  Some practitioners hold professional, exam-based certifications, possess advanced degrees, and are required to meet state or local standards.

     The bottom line is that private security companies, once thought to be the employers of rent-a-cops, have been thrust into the vanguard of protecting property and the citizens who frequent those properties against everything from petty criminals and civil disturbances to those who would strike at the infrastructure of our country.

     It is incumbent upon business owners, large and small, and security directors, to make sure the security companies they contract with have the necessary training programs and qualified employees to handle a variety of unforeseen occurrences.

Blackstone Security Services, Inc.