27-10final

Security Management
Police don’t
trust you
online survey finds:
Well over a half of police in a survey
felt that the private security sector
cannot be trusted. That’s among the
findings of the latest publication by
Perpetuity.
In brief
n Close to six in ten
believed private security
plays a minor role in
protecting the public
n Close to seven in ten
believed security officers
do not act as the eyes and
ears of the police, although
more than four in ten
thought they should.
n Well over eight in ten
stated business needs to
be mainly responsible for
protecting itself against
fraud and cyber crime.
n Well over a half felt
private security officers are
not well trained enough to
be useful.
n Why such lack of trust?
Private security is seen as
not reliable, and police
have to act where private
security fail (such as G4S
and London 2012). Visit
www.perpetuityresearch.
com.
While SRI rightly said
that we know little of
what police think about
private security, in our
July issue we reviewed
this book, Police Chiefs
in the UK, by former
senior detective turned
academic Mark Roycroft;
about what top cops
think generally
48
These findings may come as
particularly dismal after all the
changes of recent years - the
cost of the SIA, running over the
years into the hundreds of millions
now; and all the talk of the ‘wider
policing family’. Charlotte Howell
and Perpetuity founder Prof Martin
Gill brought out ‘Police views on
private security’ last month, the
latest in their Security Research
International (SRI) reports. Despite
all the warm words, and practical
partnerships, it appears that when
asked anonymously, police have a
trust problem with and are dubious
about private security. For instance
over two thirds of respondents did not
consider private security trustworthy
to charge a fair price.
Limits
That’s reflected in limits to the roles
- or lack of them - that police see for
private security. Close to eight in ten
cops were against security officers
working on behalf of the police as
first responders to incidents. Linked
to trust is an image problem, and it
appears rooted in the very nature of
business. Eight in ten police officers
admitted to being suspicious of the
profit motive of private security;
and likewise over three quarters
of officers noted that the lack of
accountability of the private security
OCTOBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY
Above: Guardhouse, Marmite factory, Burton upon Trent, part of Unilever. Just
as people have strong views for or against that product, so many police have
a problem with private security. Below: police do value CCTV as evidence
Photo by Mark Rowe
sector undermines police confidence.
By coincidence the report came
out days after a BBC TV Panorama
programme on the contractor G4S’
management of the immigration
removal centre by Gatwick Airport,
Brook House. G4S suspended nine
staff and said it would commission an
independent review.
Work rated
Briefly, the online survey had 1361
responses. Police appeared not to have
a blanket suspicion of private security,
as they rated as important its work
in places - such as at festivals, major
sporting events and in the night-time
economy of pubs and clubs. The SRI
researchers point to survey feedback
that police see such premises as there
to make a profit, that should take
responsibility for their own issues.
Likewise, those surveyed generally
felt that businesses such as banks
should protect themselves against
cyber crime, though police also were
admitting they simply do not have
the resources to fight all fraud. But to
return to the lack of contribution that
police feel private security makes; a
majority did not believe that private
security officers act as the ‘eyes and
ears’ of the police on the ground. Few
police gave time of day to the idea
of private security on guard at crime
scenes. Again, these reservations
by police were not blanket, as most
police agreed that for tackling crime
it was essential for private security
to produce CCTV images. Nor is it
the case that police don’t feel warmly
towards anyone else, as most did
value as important the likes of the fire
service, and ambulance.
More money, please
As all this may suggest, most police
don’t hold with the Community
Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS)
whereby for about the last dozen
years security guard forces and others
can train and apply to police forces
for police-style powers. And if you
might think that the austerity cuts
might prod police towards having
more to do with private security,
feedback from those taking the survey
was that police (despite being ‘bled
dry’, and ‘on its knees’, some said)
would rather have more funding. As
one put it: “I did not join the police
service to spend my days patrolling
with security guards.” Nor do police
like the idea of seconded officers (or
rent-a-cops). Most police take the
view that businesses need to be more
committed to sharing information
with the police; though a majority did
admit police need to do better too.
While those surveyed granted that
some in private security were good
at their job, even doing better than
what police might, many complained
of poor English skills, corner-cutting
and (on doors) thuggery. As the SRI
authors said, police see commercial
interests ‘as fundamentally at odds’
with the police’s own ethos. As the
authors put it, ‘private security has a
great deal of work to do to impress
most police’. One ray of hope may be
that police don’t know about private
security; some police for instance
haven’t heard of Project Griffin. p
www.professionalsecurity.co.uk