Professor Stephen Rushin recently told Marketplace.org that private security companies have limited accountability.
“Those officers are the ones that most likely to execute an arrest, most likely to execute a search, most likely to interrogate the employees of a company,” he said. “They’re also the ones who are not actually regulated by most states’ law, as it currently stands.”
In 2011, Rushin researched state accountability practices and found that only six states regulate agencies hired to work inside companies.
And even when private security agencies hire off-duty police officers, police who have the best of training, other concerns arise.
“Suddenly they’re no longer necessarily working for the public good,” Rushin said. “They’re working to protect the economic interests of their now private employer.”
For more, read “Accountability At Question In Private Policing.”
