A failure to impose control: PRIVATE SECURITY AND THE MEXICAN STATE

Logan Puck

doi:10.1590/0102-029068/114

Abstract

Abstract Scholars tend to agree that imposing comprehensive regulations is one of the most effective strategies states can use to control and direct private security companies. This study shows how attempts to strictly regulate private security firms have failed in Mexico. The Federal government of Mexico, as well as each state government, has created some form of regulation to control the activities of the private security industry. In certain states, these regulations are more stringent than those in many countries. Nonetheless, corruption, weak enforcement, and high entry barriers have created low incentives for private security firms to abide by government regulations, leading to a widespread evasion and an expansive market of unregulated and undisciplined private security companies, thus bringing into question the efficacy of imposing strict private security regulations in states with weak institutions.

Highlights

The private security industry is growing rapidly across the globe and governments are implementing numerous strategies to attempt to control it
Government bureaucrats and officials have used the rigidity of private security laws to their advan tage, adopting the “tollbooth approach” to provide their associates and those willing to pay bribes with easier access to private security permits while barring access to others
Weak enforcement of the law has enabled the avoidance of 59 the government’s reach, which has to do with a lack of strong political incentives to devote additional resources to private security enforcement agencies

Summary

Introduction

Private Security Services Regulations in the United States Today. European Journal of Law and Economics, New York, v. A private security regulation index: Ranking EU member states from 1931 until 2019. The politics of private security: Regulation, reform and re-legitimation. LOGAN PUCK Abstract: Scholars tend to agree that imposing comprehen sive regulations is one of the most effective strategies states can use to control and direct private security companies. The Federal government of Mexico, as well as each state government, has created some form of regulation to control the acti vities of the private security industry. In certain states, these regulations are more stringent than those in many countries.

Conclusion

Findings

A FALHA EM IMPOR CONTROLE: SEGURANÇA PRIVADA E O ESTADO MEXICANO Resumo