Abstract
The purpose of this article is to describe, from an international perspective, the state of the art of the private security industry. Typical in any discussion of the industry is the lack, or non-existence, of reliable facts and figures. At the same time, there is a strong demand for this kind of information. This discourse aims to fill this gap by comparing the size of the sector, the turnover, and regulation between European and non-European countries. This article will deal with five major points. First a short description of the private security industry in the Netherlands is given. Secondly, international comparisons are presented to assess the size of the industry with reference to the 15 EU-countries, and 12 non-EU countries. With regard to the latter category, some information on recent developments will be presented. Thirdly, a comparison of the order of magnitude and ranking of manpower between the security industry and the police within and outside the EU is described. Also, some remarks and data on the quality of the industry and police effectiveness will be dealt with. Fourthly, a brief overview is presented on the regulation of the private security industry in the EU. Fifthly, this article rounds off with general conclusions and some perspectives on the future.
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de Waard, J. The Private Security Industry in International Perspective. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 7, 143–174 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008701310152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008701310152