Private Security Market Research Articles

Navigating the Dynamics of Private Security in Turkey: Reflections from a Field in Flux

Any fieldwork is inherently filled with tension arising from two fundamental yet conflicting obligations: first, the need to treat the field as an already constituted research object, and second, the requirement to continuously reframe, remake, or essentially reconstitute this object during the fieldwork. This double bind places the fieldworker in a blurred position, navigating between the certainty of the former and the uncertainty of the latter. My fieldwork on Istanbul's private security market in Turkey was no exception. While approaching the market as an already constituted research object, I also had to cartographically unfold it as I explored it. My research specifically examined how security, as a peculiar good and service, was translated into a market object in Turkey's private security industry. Despite its relatively recent emergence in 2004, the industry has experienced tremendous growth. By 2019, 1.6 million people had completed private security training, 1.1 million had obtained licenses, and around 320,000 were actively employed in the industry. This translates to nearly 3 in every 100 working-age individuals being trained, almost 2 in 100 licensed, and 1 in 200 working as private security guards.

About the situation of private security in Hungary

Aim: The aim of this paper is to present some of the characteristics of the Hungarian private security market, and thus to provide an approximate picture of the degree of market coordination involved in security provision. In this way, it will be possible to compare bureaucratic and market coordination, i.e. security provided by the state and security purchased from private providers, from a certain point of view.Methodology: In order to assess the situation of private security companies in Hungary, the Author gives an overview of expenditure data and the number of employees of the sector, supplemented by trends in the number of companies and some additional aggregate financial data.Findings: The involvement of private security companies can be tracked using the available statistical tools - under strong constraints. A review of these suggests that in recent years, the number of companies has shown a pattern of substantial contraction in the market, while the evolution of turnover and headcount figures shows a pattern of growth.Value: Understanding the actors and mechanisms that exist alongside the state, and their scale, can help to improve cooperation between actors involved in policing.

Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) in the Modern International Processes

The period of rapid growth and development of the phenomenon, that is presently characterized as private military and security companies (PMSCs), coincided with the two processes of modern history of international relations: the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the U.S. Global War on Terror (GWOT) in Afghanistan. At the same time state attitude towards violence and transformation of warfare has been changing as well. Two diff erent approaches to the history of the private security market’ rise unveil the fact, that, in one way or another, the originators of the private security services were associated with the defense industry and armed forces. Non-state security actors look back on a history, that stretches to the middle and the second half of the 20th century – the period of national liberation movements across the world. Meanwhile, the 90-s of the 20th century marked the fast growth in the number of PMSCs and in the development and enlargement of the private security services’ market. Its growth is ongoing to date with gaining more new states that are interested in utilizing its capacity as an instrument of politics. Against the backdrop of the world political processes the private security market experienced technological growth and enhancement. Together with that, both the normative regulation and the approaches of the international community to the phenomenon of private military and security companies have been evolving and changing. Despite its functionality, fl exibility and technological advantages, the market of private security can challenge human rights as well as bare responsibility for the facts of corruption and improper fulfi llment of contractual obligations. Still the episodes of revealed grieve violations rarely reach courts, with infrequent cases of sentencing the perpetrators to punishment. These and other problems occurring in the private security industry require close attention by the states and international community, which has been making eff orts for elaboration of the applicable normative mechanisms to regulate private military and security activity for more than fi fteen years.

The State in Private Security: Examining Mexico City’s Complementary Police

ABSTRACT This study investigates the participation of the Mexico City government in the private security market through the Policía Complementaria (Complementary Police), a grouping of public police forces that provide protection to clients in exchange for a fee. By providing these forces with special powers and advantages, the state can outcompete traditional private security firms and profit handsomely. The state’s encroachment into the market for security raises concerns about democracy, inequality, and policing. Moreover, it challenges traditional conceptions about the relationship between the state and private security.

What is the role of private intelligence in the Slovak Republic? Legal and practical aspects of private detective services

The article focuses on legal and practical aspects of private detective services in the Slovak Republic (further Slovakia). The article is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical and provides the reader with a description of the legal environment in Slovakia and explains its impact on private detective services. The section devoted to legal aspects deals with the legal environment codifying the activities of private detectives, in particular persons conducting searches but also operators of private detective services—entrepreneurs providing their clients with a specific product—information. The part which deals with practical aspects discusses development and current situation in the field of private detective services in Slovakia while this part is focused on the number of private detective service operators and their share on the private security market in Slovakia and on the findings of research which was conducted among operators of private detective services. The research aimed at supplementing information about developments in private security and identifying problems encountered by operators of private detective services. The data for the processing of the practical part were obtained by questionnaire research and interviews as well as from publicly available statistical data in the field of private security.

Private Security Companies in Kenya and the Impact of Chinese Actors

This paper examines the development and impact of Chinese Private Security Companies (PSCs) in Kenya. Adopting a qualitative methodology approach, the study begins with an extensive literature review, followed by the findings from a month of fieldwork conducted in Nairobi, Kenya. The first part of the paper illustrates how the private security market is booming, thanks to the increase in global supply and demand. Then, the analysis turns to the legal, policy, governance, and oversight issues that private security contracting raises in both China and Kenya. Summarizing the field interviews with different stakeholders, we review three case studies to evaluate whether current business models used by Chinese PSCs are sustainable, and to what extent Chinese actors have penetrated the local market. We conclude that, as compared with the unprecedented pace of growth of China’s investment in Africa, Chinese engagement in overseas security protection is far behind other sectors. We find that the failure to hold a larger market share is due to fierce competition among PSCs and Chinese investors’ ignorance about security needs. While Western PSCs’ sophisticated security solutions have squeezed Chinese PSCs out of the competition, Chinese investors’ (both state-owned and private-owned) lack of awareness has meant that their security budgets dry up very quickly. In addition to their trade and investment presence in Africa, Chinese policymakers should develop a more integral regulatory framework emphasizing guaranteed systemic security management and emergency response processes.

Private Military and Security Companies in UN Peacekeeping Operations: Problems and Perspectives

While some of the UN member states refrain from providing peacekeepers due to security reasons, the UN frequently turns to the private security market for support. In turn, private military and security companies (PMSCs) take on risky missions and fill in the procurement gaps. It is common practice to criticize PMSCs for not having a clear international legal status, operating in the “grey” area of the law and not being accountable for their actions. Furthermore, the UN often equates PMSCs to mercenaries of the past and calls for strict regulation and surveillance of their activities. This practice has remained unchanged since the 1992 reforms, and the UN has done nothing to reduce the involvement of PMSCs in peacekeeping missions. On the contrary, it has, under pressure from lobbyists for the private security industry, actually increased security expenditures for PMSCs by unprecedented amounts. The UN’s position as a unique universal intergovernmental organization exempts it from a great deal of transparency, accountability and reform. While the private security industry includes various PMSCs that compete for contracts in conflict zones and post-conflict areas, the UN does not have any kind of competitor in peacekeeping procedures. The UN criticizes PMSCs for their blatant human rights violations and disregard of international law, yet continues to contract them for its peacekeeping missions. This paper examines the problem of involving PMSCs in UN peacekeeping operations. It aims to answer the following main questions: How do PMSCs, as partners of the UN in the peacekeeping process, contribute to the protection of human rights, which is one of the organization’s basic declared principles? Can PMSCs become a recognized instrument within the UN system? Would UN peacekeeping eff orts improve as a result of hiring PMSCs?

Actual Questions of the Hungarian Private Security Market

Security implies a stable and relatively predictable environment, in which an individual or group may pursue its ends without disruption or harm and without fear or injury. This paper intends to summarize the place of private security in the Hungarian law enforcement system, arguing that it is a very important complementary element of the security mechanism. In our view, law enforcement is not only police administration; it covers a more complex activity, the implementation of which is shared between police service and other complementary law enforcement services. As such, private security is an important additional security mechanism in society and, together with other public and private policing/security organisations, part of contemporary plural policing family. However, despite the growing importance and need for prosperity and high-quality private security, the market suffers from several anomalies. First of all, the legislation suffers a considerable drawback, making it impossible for those in the trade to fulfil their duty. The Hungarian Chamber of Bodyguards, Property Protection and Private Detectives is supposed to play an important role in the private security as a professional representative organisation. However, since the cancellation of mandatory membership, it has lost significance. Another difficulty for private security companies and the whole sector is labor shortage. The number of certified agents is decreasing dramatically. Finally, we present how the current harmonization of the Act of Private Security with the GDPR might lead to legal uncertainty with regard to the use of electronic surveillance system.

Perception of police legitimacy among private security officers

The private security market is growing around the world, and public police are no longer the predominant agents of order maintenance and crime prevention. This development has important implications as different policing agents come in contact with each other. Specifically, understanding how they view each other can help increase the benefits of today’s paradigm of security governance. Despite abundant research on citizen perceptions of police, few studies explore private security officers’ opinions about their public counterparts. Therefore, this research explores private security officers’ perceptions of the police in South Korea. Results show that the respondents’ attitudes toward police performance and distributive and procedural justice have varying influences on the three dimensions of police legitimacy: Obligation to obey, trust, and normative alignment. Additionally, the authors suggest the police should understand that private security officers’ perceptions of police legitimacy are influenced by distinct factors depending on contact experience and employment type.

PRYWATNE FIRMY OCHRONY OSÓB I MIENIA A KODEKSY DEONTOLOGII ZAWODOWEJ

The article is an analysis of the private security companies’ activities, safeguarding people and property, in the context of compliance to ethical codes. The private security market in Poland was created last century in the eighties, and took over part of the tasks carried out thus far by the police and the army, which dealt with the protection of state institutions, and critical infrastructure of the country. The authors in their analysis point out that uniformed services, which previously dealt with protection, have had not only legal authorization in the implementation of such tasks, but also an extensive codes of honor, or ethical codes of conduct. Currently, there are few companies operating on the security market that have such codes of ethics. The authors suggest that the introduction of ethical (deontological) codes by private companies will increase the level of services provided, and contribute to the increase in the prestige of the protection profession.

Crime Drop or Police Recording Flop? On the Relationship between the Decrease of Offline Crime and the Increase of Online and Hybrid Crimes

This paper analyses the relationship between the drop in traditional crimes in Western highly industrialized societies and the evolution of cybercrime. It includes a review of the criminological debate on the crime drop, which shows that the exchanges between researchers allowed clarifying its extent and limits, but without reaching agreement about its causes and seldom taking into account the trends in cyber-related offences. The paper also reviews the data available on the latter and arrives to the conclusion that European police statistics rarely include them and, when they do, the available data do not allow establishing trends nor conducting comparisons across countries. The difficulties related to the recording of such crimes are discussed and a proposal for a tripartite classification of crimes that distinguishes between offline, online, and hybrid crimes is advanced, together with suggestions on the statistical counting rules that could be applied to measure the frequency of cyber-related offences. Finally, a review of the available victimization surveys shows that cybercrime could currently represent between one-third and half of the crimes committed in a country. Accordingly, the authors consider that the rise of online and hybrid crimes have contributed to the drop of offline crimes. This is a consequence of the development of the Internet, which changed the lifestyle and routine activities of the population, and opened a breach in traditional police-based crime prevention strategies. The new scenario helped consolidating the private security market and, indirectly, led the companies involved to hold a strategic data collection, which could be used to study cybercrime.

Protecting the Covert Protectors: Codes of Conduct and Minimum Labour Standards in the Global Private Security Market

Protecting the Covert Protectors: Codes of Conduct and Minimum Labour Standards in the Global Private Security Market

The impact of licensing requirements on industrial organization and labor: Evidence from the U.S. private security market

The consequences of occupational licensing regulations on the private security market are examined. Analysis suggests that these regulations impact the number of private security firms in a state, the distribution of firm size, and the average wage of private security employees. Regulations imposed in some states reduce the number of private security firms, increase the size of firms, and raise average wages in the industry. The hypothesis that some licensing requirements act as barriers to entry is examined, as are arguments that these requirements alleviate asymmetric information problems in the industry.

MBAAs Go to War: Competition in the Private Security Market and Conflict Outcomes

Does competition shape private security firms' influence on conflict outcomes? PSFs have operated internationally for decades, but the recent U.S.-Iraq war has brought their battlefield presence into public view. Private security firms provide services ranging from armed combatants to life support and soldier entertainment. Yet, contracting in conflict environments presents unique challenges. While employers seek to minimize expenses while maximizing services, PSFs seek to maximize profits. This creates a dilemma for employers: PSFs are critical for military operations but have the potential to shirk due to weak oversight and limited failure penalties. Two factors — service specific competition and contract structure — influence PSFs' performance which, in turn, impact conflict outcomes. The expectations are tested using data from the U.S.-Iraq war from March 2003 to December 2007. Insurgent attacks are a proxy for the U.S. objective of establishing law and order. I show that competition influences firm performance and law and order in Iraq. The findings have important theoretical and policy implications for those states in the employment of private security firms.

Privatization without regulation: The human rights risks of private military and security companies (PMSCS) in Mexico

The use of private military or security companies is a growing phenomenon in Latin America. In recent years, increased violence and insecurity in Mexico has made the nation an attractive market for PMSCs. The privatization of security has changed how security is provided in ways that can be either positive or negative depending on how the industry is regulated. This note examines how the privatization of security has functioned in Mexico by examining the nation’s two main private security categories —domestic and multinational PMSCs— who work for either private clients or the United States (US) and/or Mexican governments under the Merida Initiative. After discussing how Mexican law attempts to regulate the industry, this note analyzes whether or not existing regulation is sufficient to permit these organizations to act as a “force multiplier” to increase the overall sense of security. In light of evidence suggesting that domestic and multinational PMSCs do not respect Mexican law, it appears that most of the private security market in Mexico fails to be a “force multiplier”. Moreover the presence of a non-state actor authorized to use force and not controlled adequately add greater complexity to an already complicated human rights situation. This note concludes by discussing how Mexico’s failure to implement existing regulations on PMSCs amounts to a failure to respect its obligations under international law.

Knowledge as a Competitive Advantage in Private Security: A Study In a Company in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Os benefícios da gestão do conhecimento em empresas atuantes em mercados competitivos são conhecidos. A empresa líder no segmento de segurança privada no setor empresarial de Santa Catarina serviu como base para pesquisa quanto à adoção da gestão do conhecimento. A pesquisa foi exploratória, com método qualitativo. Os resultados permitiram constatar a viabilidade da gestão do conhecimento nas empresas do setor. Os investimentos no capital intelectual, mais especificamente no capital humano, são percebidos como necessários, sendo que o processo de gestão do conhecimento não se encontra formalizado nas organizações de segurança privada catarinenses. Itens importantes para implantação deste processo, como o início da participação em comunidades de prática; a organização, o tratamento e a retenção das informações da organização de maneira estratégica e a preocupação com a comunicação entre os seus colaboradores estão sendo considerados.

Evaluating private security sector market perceptions in Finland

The role and significance of private security services have grown in many countries, since traditional tasks of security authorities are being outsourced. The goal of this study is to empirically evaluate the perceptions of the private security market in Finland. As a result, we identified three different future scenarios for the Finnish private security market, including (1) international success via innovations, (2) success via domestic markets, and (3) pessimistic success vision. It appeared that 75 per cent of respondents saw the future of the Finnish private security market as positive, while respondents with managerial job position were more optimistic than workers. Moreover, the importance of a high-quality national-level educational system was emphasised. The market is assumed to be characterised by the dominance of large companies, while the attitude towards multi-service activities is divided by the respondents. Owing to homogeneous service offerings, the industry is expected to face strong price competition. There are also some doubts regarding the private sector's ability to handle new duties transferred from the public sector. Finally, technology will be a new business enabler, yet it will attract new rivals from other industries and challenge traditional actors in the security sector field.

Security Beyond the State: Global Security Assemblages in International Politics

To date, most discussion of security privatization in international politics has been focused on the role of private military companies and mercenaries. This article seeks to shift the focus away from the battlefields and toward the less spectacular privatization and globalization of commercial private security. Drawing on Saskia Sassen’s notion of state ‘‘disassembly,’’ we situate the growth of private security within broader shifts in global governance. Pointing to the weakness of seeing the rise of private security as an erosion of state power and authority, we show instead a re-articulation of the public ⁄private and global ⁄local distinctions and relationships into what we term ‘‘global security assemblages.’’ Analyzing the role of private security in two such assemblages in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, we show how a range of different security agents and normativities interact, cooperate and compete, to produce new institutions, practices and forms of security governance. Global security assemblages thus mark important developments in the relationship between security and the sovereign state, structures of political power and authority, and the operations of global capital. Spurred by the apparent return of mercenary activities in Africa at the end of the Cold War, and given further impetus and urgency by the substantial involvement of private military contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq, the privatization of security has become one of the most controversial issues in contemporary international politics. Once obscure companies such as Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and Erinys have joined with tales of ‘‘neo-mercenaries’’ like Executive Outcomes in Sierra Leone and Simon Mann’s attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea in 2004, to become the focus of widespread journalistic coverage, increasingly sophisticated scholarly analysis, as well as popular books, entertainment and Hollywood films. Yet the privatization of security and its consequences go well beyond the activities of the private soldier. Away from the battlefields, in the day-to-day activities of ordinary life, private security has also become ubiquitous. Less spectacular than the ‘‘return of the dogs of war,’’ commercial private security activities, ranging from manned guarding and alarm installation, to risk analysis and surveillance, have expanded at a phenomenal rate. Worldwide, the commercial private security market is now valued at $165 billion, and its growth is forecast to continue at an annual rate of 8% for the foreseeable future (Securitas 2007). Indeed, what was once described as a ‘‘quiet revolution’’ in security provision has become global in scope (Shearing and Stenning 1981).

When managers bypass shareholder approval of board appointments: Evidence from the private security market

This paper investigates the influence of managerial entrenchment on private placements by examining the firm's decision to appoint representatives of the private investors to the board without shareholder approval. By analyzing a sample of U.S. firms that appoint directors in combination with private offerings between 1995 and 2000, we find that firms with greater managerial entrenchment are more likely to bypass shareholder approval. Firms that bypass shareholders are less likely to appoint independent directors or to elect one of these directors as chairman. We also show that the market reacts more positively to the private offering announcement when the firm submits its board candidates for shareholder approval. Further, firms that bypass approval underperform compared to firms that obtain it. Overall our findings suggest that managers avoid shareholder approval to perpetuate entrenchment.

Sécurité privée au Québec, un marché en évolution ?

The majority of studies centering on the evolution of private security use a count of agents, agencies, or both as a focus of analysis. This article is concerned with the possible biases and validity problems related to such indicators. An economic framework is, in turn, proposed to study the market and evolution of private security. Trends observed include a decline in the market for guarding and an increase in the private investigation market, with the later, however, continuing to represent only a small share of the overall private security market. It is argued that one cannot conclude on the decline in the overall market for private security because data on expanding and new technologies in the field are lacking.