Relations between police and private security officers in South Korea

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of the working relationship between police officers and private security officers in South Korea. More specifically, this study examines how police officers and security personnel perceive the working relationships between the two organizations, their attitudes on the professionalism of security personnel, their views of ways to improve the working relationship, and their perceptions of the future of public and private police relationships.Design/methodology/approachSimilar to the experience of many developed and developing economies, South Korea has experienced a significant increase in the number of private security personnel employed in the last three decades relative to the employment data on law enforcement officers. To reveal the nature of the working relationship between the two groups, this study utilized a recent survey of 258 police officers and 134 private security officers in South Korea.FindingsWhile both law enforcement and private security officers were positive about their relationship with each other, security officers are more optimistic about achieving improvements in police/security relationships. Further, the findings also reveal that both police officers and security professionals believe that the other group could do more to encourage a positive working relationship.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this research has made modest inroads into assessing the views of street level bureaucrats, further research is also needed to assess the extent to which the administrators of both public and private police organizations consider each other viable partners in addressing citizens' safety concerns.Practical implicationsThe level of optimism and support among private security personnel concerning the role of security is greater than that of police officers, which indicated that the police could do more to improve the relationship between the two.Originality/valueEmpirical research on the nature of the relationship between the public and the private professionals in a South Korean context enabled investigation into the aspects inherent to developing countries.