Lecture 5- Plural Policing Flashcards
What are the key readings?
Gill, Gorringe
What are the key points from Gill?
Private security is seen as both partners and the competition
There are concerns on the profit driven nature of private policing
Heavy reliance on private policing had led to undermining of the police’s work
Concerns on the ethics amd approach of the private sector
What are the key points from Gorringe?
The lack of basic facilities from the police has led to scrutiny
There is no negotiation when crowds are unruly
Anti-systemic groups dislike interaction with the police
People who have legitimate policing are likely to distance themselves from troublemakers
What occurred in July 2019?
Boris Johnson commits to reverse loss of 20000 officers during the 10 yeats of austerity
Was there an increase or decrease of police officers between March 2019 and 2023? (Home office)
Increase
What does the Casey Report say?
Sergeants and Inspectors are expected to manage very large numbers of constables
and junior staff as a core feature of their work, without the time and the tools to do so
Vetting processes are not vigilant
When was the highest number of police office leavers between 2009-2023? (Home Office)
In 2023 at 9192
What are the statistics for the proportion of female officers in E&W? (Home Office)
25/7% in 2010 and 34.7% in 2023
30% of chief officer roles are held by women and 5/10 of senior roles in the Met are held by women
What else did the Home Office find with diversity that is negative?
The highest proportion of female officers are in the lowest rank (in 2023)
What are the aims of the policing and crime act 2009?
Increase accountability of local forces to communities by reflecting their priorities
Increasing police effectiveness
empowering local communities
What are the actions from policing and crime act 2009?
Police reform, lap dancing clubs, alcohol retailers, sex offenders, gang activity
What are the aims of the policing and crime act 2017?
Improving police efficiency and effectiveness via closer collaboration
Enhancing accountability of the police and fire and rescue services
Strengthening protections for those in contact with the police
Safeguarding children and young from sexual exploitation
What are the policing measures of the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill 2022)
Enshrines the police covenant in law
Increasing penalties for assaults on emergency workers
New powers on digital information on extraction
Strengthen police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments
What is private security?
Security that protects information, persons and property
What is the defining characteristic of private security?
Existing to serve their employers rather than for public interest, loss prevention and profit maximisation
What is the characteristic of public police?
Crime prevention
What is the key activity of private security?
Surveillance through patrol: checking locks, doors, fences, controlling access, conducting searches
Who looked at the relationship between private security aims?
Shearing and Stenning
What did Shearing and Stenning say about the private security aims?
Aims to avoid police hostility by emphasising prevention over investigation
What are the key aspects of the private and public security relationships?
Interchange of personnel
Use of each other’s services
Blurring of public & private
How many police officers are there in the UK 2015?
151000
How many private guards are there in the UK 2015?
232000
What do private security officers focus on?
Street patrols, armed transport, private surveillance providers
What did the Office for National Statistics (2023) find with crime and safety?
Crime appears to be falling but we appear to feel less safe in particular women
What did Shearing and Stenning find with the structural thesis?
Growth of private security associated with shifting property relationships
Modern urban environment tend to be privately policed but public areas tend to be policed by a public authority
Who looked at guard labour?
Bowles and Jayadev
What did Bowles and Jayadev find?
Inequality breeds conflict: the more unequal the society, the more “guard labour” it requires: those at top spend a lot of time & money keeping those at bottom in line
What is market economy?
A system in which laws of supply & demand direct production of goods services including labour
Who looked at market economy?
Johnson and Shearing
What did Johnson and Shearing find?
A market in security enables people to buy amount of security they perceive is needed: “optimal security”
Available security market and the need and ability to pay causes optimal security
What causes deficient security?
The need and inability to pay and an available security market
What did Bayley, 1994, say about private security?
And if the rich opt out because they are paying twice, the result may be “a poor police policing the poor”
What did Bayley and Shearing, 1996, say about private security?
There is the favouring of institutions
Commercial policing not balanced either by voluntary neighbourhood crime prevention and by public policing
There is an unequal distribution of security across classes
Increased reliance of private policing causes injustice
What did Ken Marsh describe private policing as?
The rise of private detectives as a ‘staggering indictment’ of the state of policing.
Who looked at the 3 views of private policing?
Gill
What are the 3 views of private policing?
Scepticism, pragmatics and embracers
What do the scepticisms think of private policing?
Police should take responsibility for policing
What do the embracers think private security?
Welcome the role of private security
What do the pragmatists think of private security?
Private security is a necessity
What does Loftus say about private security?
They are sceptical about the contributions from outsiders
