Private Security Rises When Police Become Ineffective

By Brad Parker

The historic response to the lack of effective policing is the necessary rise of private security.

This trend is continuing and is evidenced by more media coverage on public officials and high-profile business people hiring private security for their safety.

According to the Washington Examiner, certain members of Congress have spent $32,000 on private security while campaigning for defunding of municipal police departments.

Businesses have been hard hit with COVID shutdowns in the first place and then the rise of street crime and protests in many cities. There is also the historic rise in violent crime now to contend with.

There have been a flurry of news accounts lately on the amounts of funds spent on security for some of the higher profile tech executives. There are also accounts of huge ransoms paid out for the return of people kidnapped from wealthy individuals.

I was having a conversation the other day where I realized that I now know three people who have had immediate family members kidnapped and ransomed for large sums of money. It’s not that I run with a super wealthy crowd, this is a coincidence, but it got me wondering how rich you need to be before your personal security is at risk?

You won't be surprised at the efforts by businesses to upgrade their security as well. Some of this is in response to threats of street violence we've seen this year. Some of it is in response to some devastating attacks on offices. There is no real indication that this increase in lawlessness and crime will abate soon.

If you are a high-net worth individual or a business, now is the time to get some initial consulting with security professionals about how to decrease your risk. Our clients routinely use fixed security services for the corporate campus and for executives' residences. Protective services are used for transporting individuals for work to company headquarters as well as for business and personal travel domestically and internationally. The addition of security intelligence services can dramatically mitigate the risks companies and their executives face.

As individuals, this rising trend of cutting law enforcement budgets combined with skyrocketing crime rates is going to mean we cannot rely on city or county law enforcement as our primary security.

As Emma Freire notes, the rise of private security in countries like Brazil and South Africa are staples for even middle class neighborhoods when the police are ineffective or essentially non-existent. She notes that customer service can be better and services can be more customized.

For private residences, examples seen in other countries -- particularly South Africa -- show residents sharing the costs across a larger base of subscribers. For example, Home Owners Associations can hire a private security firm to patrol your neighborhood. These costs can be very reasonable when they are spread out amongst your neighbors.

Regardless of politics or our location, we want to navigate the increasingly unstable and lawless circumstances to keep our businesses and families safe while allowing some semblance of normal life.

It will necessarily entail a balancing act between the competing needs of your comfort/convenience versus your safety/security. This is a personal and business choice we will all have to face soon. The continuing social, cultural, and political fracturing ensures we will live in "interesting times" for the next decade.