Years ago, I remember reading about the growth of private security forces throughout the country. In short, our commercial buildings, corporations and businesses protect themselves today not by using their city’s police, but by hiring private guards. While those men and women who run those corporations and businesses live outside the city in a gated community patrolled and guarded by private police. Even those who choose to reside in our troubled cities do so in apartment buildings with a doorman or guard prominent in the lobby controlling all access.
I remember this illustration I heard years ago: On very cold, snowy nights, the city’s police answer trouble-calls, deal with drunks, addicts and “ne’er-do-wells” while passing by huge glass buildings with controlled-access entrances and security guards who comfortably (and warmly) sit at their lobby desks and compensated as well or better than those outside who are to keep the city’s peace.
It turns out that those who have the financial means have little to no contact with the city’s police. It is the rest of our society that must deal with their practices which, overwhelmingly, are designed to control and not to serve and protect everyone.
My life in policing was strongly influenced by my first job — I was a young man just out of the military and hired to be a patrol officer in a wealthy suburban city. When I later transferred to the big city, I found a much different culture than I had recently experienced. As a police officer in an affluent community, I was taught, and expected to be, respectful of others (especially residents) always. Not so in the big city.
So, here’s the rub. Those of us who are “of means” work and live in peaceful, protected environments. Those who don’t must deal with a police system designed to control and force compliance. And when we add race and poverty into this mix, a lot can go wrong. And does.
What’s answer? You know as well as I do. To perform the difficult task of policing a multi-cultural, diverse, open, and democratic society will require the best of those among us to serve. And we get them to serve by making sure they are well-compensated, have an advanced education, supported by the community, are highly trained during their entire career, have impeccable character and strong ethical set, are emotionally intelligent and highly-controlled in their use legal force (using the European Union standard of “absolute necessity.” Their leaders are also to be highly trained and competent, mature, and responsible men and women committed to the growth and success of those whom they lead.
At the same time, the system of policing, its rules, policies, and procedures must work to gain trust, support, and compliance of the community — a sense of togetherness in crafting neighborhood communities that are healthy, safe, and orderly.
Do you agree?
Here’s recent piece I’ve summarized about today’s security guards and a glimpse at the problem… I have underlined key points…
“Private security guard Michael Bock hung up and continued driving into Portland, one of the many American downtowns where one crisis now spirals into the next, as spiking rates of homelessness, drug overdoses, violent crime and psychosis threaten to overwhelm the public safety infrastructure once considered basic to the country’s major cities. Average police response times have increased by as much as 50 percent over the last several years in dozens of places, including New York City, New Orleans and Nashville. In Portland, a record-breaking number of daily emergencies has strained every part of the system: 911 hold times have quintupled since 2019, the average police response has slowed to nearly an hour, firefighters work overtime to handle more overdoses than actual fires, and each week there are no ambulances left to respond to hundreds of medical emergencies.
“What has arrived at the void are thousands of private security guards hired by office buildings, coffee shops, stores, schools and parking lots in what has become one of the country’s fastest-growing industries, with annual revenue exceeding $40 billion. Most major U.S. cities now have at least three times as many security guards on the street as sworn police officers, even though guards typically operate with minimal oversight, less training and little power to enforce the law. Bock patrolled the city each morning on behalf of Echelon Protective Services in his family’s 2006 minivan without the benefit of lights or a siren, rolling down his window to cajole people into behaving with a mixture of charm, intimidation, commiseration and free cigarettes.”
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
“At the same time, the system of policing, its rules, policies, and procedures must work to gain trust, support, and compliance of the community — a sense of togetherness in crafting neighborhood communities that are healthy, safe, and orderly.” I absolutely agree David.
But…safety and security MUST come first. We already have the best system of criminal justice yet devised by mankind (go ahead and argue please), but what you argue here is the essence of a much deeper issue that is aggravated by a constant drone of police demonization.
Beginning with Michael Brown in 2014, individuals and groups with a vested interest in doing so have been demonizing the police. This has caused the police to pull back in their efforts to keep our communities safe. As a result, crime, violence, and victimization increases and the demand for private security explodes.
Here is the rub. Those who live in poverty in our cities cannot hire their own security nor can they leave these unsafe urban areas, they live in fear and hopelessness. This war on cops (MacDonald, 2016) has had the VERY predictable result of victimizing our most vulnerable citizens.
We have never come close to the world that you envision here of compliance, trust, support, and togetherness, neither has Europe. And, unfortunately, we never will because people, by their very nature, need to be constrained by the law. In a free society we resent what the police sometimes need to do to curtail uncivilized behavior. There will always be those who seek to prey on others and when the police pull back from dealing with them our most vulnerable citizens suffer. The rich can protect themselves by hiring their own police who will protect their interests or by moving out of crime ridden areas, the poor have no choice but to rely on the demoralized public police.
Yes, this is our future. Unless we come to realize a few basic realities.
First, poverty DOES NOT not cause crime. No one is robbing stores to get bread because they are hungry. If you are hungry, go to the local food bank. People engage in crime and uncivilized behavior because they can, there is no longer a meaningful cost to them. And, cultural incentives exist to act like a “bad @$$.”
It much more accurate to state that Crime CAUSES poverty. Crime leads to fear, fear leads to less economic investment, less economic investment leads to less economic opportunity (jobs), which results in more poverty.
Second, we need to get back to basics. When we accept that CRIME is the enemy, as opposed to vague and innocuous concepts like “systemic racism,” it’s much easier to envision how to move forward. Bring back disincentives (penalties and punishments) for criminal and uncivilized behavior and stop incentivizing victimhood and striking out against perceived societal inequities. Togetherness begins with a REASONED, not emotional, understanding of what the problem actually is.
It’s not about race, its about bad behavior that hurts everyone, especially the most vulnerable.
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Pat, I appreciate that we can take two somewhat (but not too distant) positions on the future of policing a free society — that we can converse respectfully in doing so. Yes, I do understand your position… but as you may know, I am a dreamer… and as such I have this dream of and for a civil society in which we all share common values and live together without harming one another. Ah… but what’s a heaven for? Peace.
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The growth of private police forces in the United States is a problem that calls into question the safety and fairness of our society. This opinion paints a startling picture: wealthy individuals and corporations are increasingly turning to private security guards rather than relying on the police. It’s disheartening to imagine the well-off living in gated neighborhoods and the employed working in reinforced office buildings in order to avoid dealing with the problems facing the rest of society. Having well-compensated private guards enjoy comfort while official law enforcement struggles with urban issues is a harsh reminder of the inequity that exists in our society. Important questions concerning the future of policing, social equality, and the roles of various sectors in keeping our society safe are raised by this topic. Thanks for this wonderful content.
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Thank you for sharing this insightful and important discussion on improving the police force. It’s crucial that we engage in these conversations to foster positive change and create a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone. Your article provides valuable perspectives and solutions that can contribute to the ongoing dialogue about enhancing law enforcement. Thanks for shedding light on this crucial topic!
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