Expertise and the Professionalization of Municipal Corporate Security in Canadian Cities

Abstract

Corporate security brings to mind the image of an in-house security team working behind the scenes in a multinational company to protect assets, prevent employee theft, and safeguard the chief executive officer from threats. However, corporate security takes other forms. Not only are there different kinds of corporate security units in private companies (Lippert, Walby and Steckle, 2013; Petersen, 2013), but the practices and techniques of corporate security are being trans-ferred into public agencies and governments too. Since 2001, at least 17 Canadian municipal governments have created municipal corporate security (MCS) units. MCS units centralize asset protection, employee investigations, ‘nuisance’ policing, physical security for buildings, and some bylaw enforcement, all of which previously tended to be the responsibility of different municipal departments. Although the number of personnel varies in MCS units, they tend to be responsible for all aspects of security within City Hall and on other municipal properties in any given city.