Amid Cuts, Private Cops and Watches Surge; Towns Help

What Happened

Communities and citizens across the country are hiring their own private security, or are organizing town watches, as municipal budget cuts hit law enforcement. And in some cases, cities are helping.

The Trend

As Gov1 has covered extensively, cities across the country have merged, outsourced, or simply cut police and fire services to save money. According to two professors at Temple University, nearly 12,000 police officers were laid off in 2011, and 28,000 have faced furloughs since 2010.

As a result, residents have been hiring private security firms or establishing town watches at an increasing rate. According to media reports, private guards have been hired in dozens of neighborhoods in Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. In addition, there are now more than 20,000 town watches around the country—with 5 million volunteers—according to reports.

This trend, however, is not necessarily a new one, as police departments and towns have outsourced specific functions for decades. For example, according to research, nearly 75 percent of American police departments have contracted out the removal of illegally parked cars; a 1986 survey found that 44 percent of U.S. law enforcement officials contract out the patrolling of public property.

The Financials

Outsourcing of police functions to private security firms is growing; according to the Temple professors, revenue of private security firms increased from $3.2 billion in 1997 to $5.8 billion in 2007.

In some cases, private security guards are off-duty police officers or former military. But that’s not always the case; private police hiring is based on market demand, whereas police officers must typically have a high school diploma, a criminal justice or law enforcement degree, and must attend a police academy, go through hundreds of hours of training, and pass a battery of examinations. As a result, the experience and professional education of private security police typically lacks that of public officers.

As a result, private police usually get paid much less than sworn officers; according to the Temple professors, private police are paid about 35 percent less than public officers. Since they are cheaper to hire, it is probably no surprise that private cops far outnumber public police; according to reports, there are five times as many private security guards in the U.S. than police officers, and that number is expected to increase.

Pros and Cons

The basic arguments for and against private policing are as follows:

• Cons: Private police ultimately take away higher paying police jobs, and employ less qualified and less thoroughly trained individuals. Using private security guards does not lower crime rates, and ultimately lead to vigilantism like the Trayvon Martin shooting. And since private police often only have misdemeanor arrest authority and can’t punish, they create additional burdens and headaches for police forces.
• Pros: Tight municipal budgets encourage the shedding of “non-core” and non-public services from the police force—like guarding buildings, prisoners, or public transit—and these are perfect for cheaper private security firms. Private police typically don’t have jurisdictional restrictions, are more accountable to their clients, and can better adjust to flexible schedules and changing demands.

Examples

Despite the criticism, neighborhoods and cities continue to employ private police and encourage neighborhood watches. In fact, some cities have budgeted programs that help train, certify, and assist such watches. Here are some examples of private police and town-promoted neighborhood watches:

• Foley, MN: This small Minnesota town hired a private security firm to run patrols 24 hours per day. According to reports, the cost-saving move isn’t just to patrol schools or hospitals: It’s for whole-town street patrols. The town disbanded its police department in 2003 and had been patrolled by the county sherrif’s office, but an expired contract forced the hiring of the outside firm, General Security Services Corp.
• Northwood, PA: A neighborhood near Philadelphia hired its own armed security patrolman, who is paid $40 per month per homeowner. The patrolman can’t make arrests, but can detain; according to the local media, his role is to “observe-and-report.”
• Hardin, MT: Back in 2008, this small town outsourced its police department and prison operations to the American Police Force Corporation. The move was criticized in national media reports, and the company turned out to be an illegitimate entity; the town ultimately worked with another firm.
• West Chester, PA: This borough’s council hired a private security firm to patrol streets late at night, largely to control “roaming bands of drunk college kids.” The objective is to cut down on quality-of-life disturbances.
• Philadelphia: Related to town watches, Philly has a Town Watch Integrated Services office, which trains and certifies town watches. With a budget exceeding $600,000, the group focuses on safety and works closely with the local police, offering forms for watches that track incidents, abandoned cars, and more.
• Washington, D.C., also has a Neighborhood Watch program that offers training and tips for reducing and preventing crime; many other cities do as well.
• Nationally, of course, the feds are also active. The U.S. Department of Justice and the National Sheriff’s Association published their own Neighborhood Watch Manual, which explores how to start a watch, with details on recruiting, conducting meetings, knowing what to report, and more.

There are many other examples of private security firms being hired by municipalities. According to analysis conducted in 1991, police in Amarillo, Texas, had authorized a private security company to respond to alarm calls; Fresno, California hired private security firms to provide security at shopping centers, apartment complexes, sporting venues, the city convention center, and zoo.

More Reading

The International Association of Chiefs of Police put together a very detailed 45-page policy paper on private security and public policing partnerships, and an impact study on private policing is also available. The DoJ published a review of trends in public-private police collaborations, as well as guidelines for partnerships.

A more specific case study on private policing in San Francisco was published in 2010; an older case study on private policing in New York is also available.