Government Regulation in the United Kingdom Private Security Industry: The Myth of Non-Regulation

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Button ◽  
Bruce George
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Security Industry ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Private Security Industry

scholarly journals Questioning Anglocentrism in plural policing studies: Private security regulation in Belgium and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082110148
Author(s):  
Pieter Leloup ◽  
Adam White
Keyword(s):  
Private Security ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Advocacy Coalition ◽  
Market Interactions ◽  
Security Industry ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Private Security Industry ◽  
The Uk

Recent Continental European scholarship has identified a problematic Anglocentric bias running through the field of comparative plural policing studies. It has sought to counter this bias by emphasizing a series of divergent plural policing trajectories between the more market-friendly countries in the Anglosphere and the more state-centric countries in Continental Europe. While acknowledging the significance of this corrective, we argue that it tends to overemphasize the levels of divergence between these two regions. We substantiate this claim by examining the rise of the private security industry and its regulation by the state in the UK (representing the Anglosphere) and Belgium (representing Continental Europe). Interpreting historical and contemporary data through Sabatier and Weible’s advocacy coalition framework, which focuses on the cut and thrust of democratic politics, we observe how in both countries this important dimension of the plural policing landscape is characterized not by counterposed market-friendly and state-centric trajectories, but rather by a complex mix of state–market interactions. In other words, the dynamics of private security regulation are more state-centric in the UK and more market-friendly in Belgium than recent Continental European scholarship suggests. Moreover, we illustrate how, under conditions of post-financial crisis austerity, the overarching pattern is, if anything, one of convergence towards a common set of political dynamics. This is an important finding that not only makes an original contribution towards private security regulation scholarship but also encourages us to question the nature of Anglocentric bias within comparative plural policing studies.

scholarly journals Human rights violations committed by private military and security companies: an international law analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Karska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Private Security ◽  
International Community ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Security Industry ◽  
Private Security Companies ◽  
Private Security Industry ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Security Companies

Abstract: This paper is devoted to the growing phenomenon of the private military and security industry with respect to human rights obligations. In the first part, it will analyze the concept of a private security company, which is not clear in national regulations and has few relevant provisions in international conventions. The second part will contain a short description of examples of human rights violations committed by private military and security companies, or with their participation, during service delivery or other forms of activity. The third part of this paper discusses possible methods of responsibility enforcement, with respect to the transnational character of many private security companies involved in human rights violations worldwide. One of the most important elements of the discussion in international community should focus on binding international instrument, preferably a convention, which would be able to establish at least very elementary rules for states and international organizations, responsible for using private military and security companies. The international community has witnessed a lot of initiatives from non-governmental entities, also model laws and self-regulations of the private security industry, but still the real problem has not even been reduced. The number of human rights violations has grown. Keywords: Human rights. Private security companies. Liability.

Regulating the Private Security Industry

2006 ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
Adrian Beck ◽  
Andrew Willis
Keyword(s):  
Private Security ◽  
Security Industry ◽  
Private Security Industry
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