Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Training and Education Within the Security Sector: Challenges and Opportunities for Development

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Handbook of Security

Abstract

This chapter explores the much-neglected topic of security training focussing in particular on security officers including the extent to which the training received is fir for purpose. They make a case for increased training and the creation of career pathways to raise standards and professionalise the service.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Adendorff, D. (2009). “In a culture where perceptions count more than reality, it is unsurprising that security practitioners call themselves professionals before the actual professionalization of their occupation. (Unpublished MSc Dissertation). Loughborough University, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apollo Education Group. (2015). Competency Models for Enterprise Security and Cybersecurity: Research-Based Frameworks for Talent Solution.

    Google Scholar 

  • ASIS (2013). Enterprise Security Risks and Workforce Competencies: Findings from an Industry Roundtable on Security Talent Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • ASIS (2015). Enterprise Security Competency Model.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbazette. (2014). Analyzing Needs to Select the Best Delivery Method. In E. Biech (Ed.) ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development (pp. 145-154). Alexandria: ASTD Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnard, A. & Lubbe, L. (2013). Security guarding: a competency model. South African Journal of Labour Relations. 37(1), 79-96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayley, D. H. & Shearing, C. D. (1996) The Future of Policing. Law & Society Review. [Online] 30 (3), 585–606.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bietsch, T. (2018) National Standardization for Private Security Officer Training and Hiring Practices. A Masters Thesis. American Public University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackstone, E. A. & Hakim, S. (2013) Competition Versus Monopoly in the Provision of Police. Security Journal. [Online] 26 (2), 157–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baruch, Y. (2004). Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths: organizational and individual perspectives. Career development international, 9(1), 58-73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. (2007) Assessing the Regulation of Private Security Across Europe. European Journal of Criminology. [Online] 4 (1), 109–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. (2008) Doing Security: Critical Reflections and an Agenda for Change. Crime prevention and security management. Basingstoke [England]; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. (2011). The Private Security Industry Act 2001 and the security management gap in the United Kingdom. Security Journal, 24(2), 118-132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. (2019) Private Policing. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. and George, B., 2006. Regulation of private security: Models for analysis. In Handbook of security (pp. 563-585). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Button, M. & Stiernstedt, P. (2018) Comparing Private Security Regulation in the European Union. Policing and Society. [Online] 28 (4), 398–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carliner, S. (2010). Competencies for training and development professionals. Toronto: CSTD Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cragin, R. K. & Padilla, P. (2017) Old Becomes New Again: Kidnappings by Daesh and Other Salafi-Jihadists in the Twenty-First Century. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. [Online] 40 (8), 665–683.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, A. (ed.) (2005) Plural Policing: The Mixed Economy of Visible Patrols in England and Wales. Researching criminal justice series. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, W. C. et al. (1990) Private Security Trends, 1970 to 2000: the Hallcrest report II. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, D. R. (2003) Rethinking Corporate Security in the Post-9/11 Era. Amsterdam Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennelly, L.J. & Perry, M.A. (2017). Careers in Security, Third Edition. Naples: International Foundation for Protection Officers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, D. (2016) Private Security Career Paths: Establishing the Foundations of a Structured Progression Model for the Manned Guarding Sector. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.

    Google Scholar 

  • George, B. & Button, M. (2000) Private Security. Vol. 1: Leicester: Perpetuity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, M, Howell, C, McGeer, C. (2020). Understanding influences on security career/job choice: what those work working in the security sector think. Security Research Initiative.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, M.L. (2013). Challenges Associated with Federal Protective Service’s Contract Guards and Risk Assessment at Federal Facilities. Washington: United States Government Accountability Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M. et al. (2010) Defining the Security Professional: Definition Through a Body of Knowledge. 3rd Australian Security and Intelligence Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hearnden, K. & Security Industry Training Organisation (1993) The Management of Security in the U.K.: A Research Survey. Loughborough: Centre for Extension Studies, Loughborough University of Technology and the Security Industry Training Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaworski, C. et al. (2018) The Effects of Training Satisfaction, Employee Benefits, and Incentives on Part-Time Employees’ Commitment. International Journal of Hospitality Management. [Online] 741–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kakalik, J. S. & Wildhorn, S. (1971) The law and Private Police. [Rand Corporation. Rand report] ; R-872/DOJ Accessed from https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn209887. Washington D.C.: Santa Monica, Calif: U.S. Dept of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Institute of law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Rand.

  • Kezeli, R. (2016). The Private Security Industry; The Development of Higher Educational Training Standards. American Military University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirschenbaum, A. & Rapaport, C. (2017) Does Training Improve Security Decisions? A Case Study of Airports. Security Journal. [Online] 30 (1), 184–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitteringham, G. (2017) Security Practitioners’ Perspectives of the ABST Training Programme. Portsmouth: Portsmouth University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, K. & Hart, J. (2003) The Wrong Arm of the Law? Public Images of Private Security. Policing and Society. [Online] 13 (2), 159–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Löfstrand, C., Loftus, B. and Loader, I., 2016. Doing ‘dirty work’: Stigma and esteem in the private security industry. European journal of criminology, 13(3), pp. 297–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lombardo, M. M. & Eichinger, R. W. (2010) The Career Architect Development Planner. Minneapolis, MN: Lominger International, a Korn/Ferry Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubbe, L.L. and Barnard, A., 2013. Security guarding: a competency model. South African journal of labour relations, 37(1), pp. 79–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manzo, J. (2006) ‘You Can’t Rent a Cop’: Mall Security Officers’ Management of a ‘Stigmatized’ Occupation. Security Journal. [Online] 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manzo, J. (2009) Security Officers’ Perspectives on Training. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. [Online] 51 (3), 381–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIlhatton, D. et al. (2018) Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism: An Analysis of the Current Considerations and Barriers Inhibiting the Adoption of Counterterrorism Protective Security Measures. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. [Online] 20 (1), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, R. and Griffiths, T., 2015. The Use of Private Security Services for Policing. Research report: 2015–R041.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nalla, M. K. & Crichlow, V. J. (2017) Have the Standards for Private Security Guards Become More Stringent in the Post 9/11 Era? An Assessment of Security Guard Regulations in the Us from 1982 to 2010. Security Journal. [Online] 30 (2), 523–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nalla, M. & Wakefield, A. (2014) ‘The Security Officer’, in M. L. Gill (ed.) The handbook of security. Palgrave handbooks. 2nd edition Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilson, L.B. & Goodson, L.A. (2018). Online Teaching at its best. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

    Google Scholar 

  • Noe, R.A. (1999). Employee Training and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, K. (2014). Evolution of the Training Profession. In E. Biech (Ed.) ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development (pp. 9–34). Alexandria: ASTD Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Conner, D., Lippert, R., Greenfield, K., & Boyle, P. (2004). After the “quiet revolution”: the self-regulation of Ontario contract security agencies. Policing and Society. 14 (2), 138–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palacios, K.P. (2019). Progressive Levels of Security Competency. Naples: International Foundation for Protection Officers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provost, C. (2017) The Industry of Inequality: Why the World is Obsessed with Private Security. The Guardian. 12 May. [online]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/may/12/industry-of-inequality-why-world-is-obsessed-with-private-security (Accessed 20 May 2019).

  • Rogers, C. (2021) Policing Structures. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schleicher, A., (2020). The impact of covid-19 on education insights from education at a glance 2020. Retrieved from oecd.org website: https://www.oecd.org/education/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-education-insights-education-at-a-glance-2020.pdf.

  • Scollan, T. J. (2011) An Assessment of the New York State Enhanced Security Guard Training Legislation and Its Efficacy on Security Officer Preparedness. California: Naval Postgraduate School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shearing, C. D. & Stenning, P. C. (1981) Modern Private Security: Its Growth and Implications. Crime and Justice. 3193–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shearing, C. & Wood, J. (2003) Governing Security for Common Goods. International Journal of the Sociology of Law. [Online] 31 (3), 205–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. L. (2014) ‘Security Technology and the Protection of Assets’, in M. L. Gill (ed.) The Handbook of Security. Palgrave handbooks. 2nd edition Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Steden, R. & de Waard, J. (2013) ‘Acting Like Chameleons’: On the McDonaldization of Private Security. Security Journal. [Online] 26 (3), 294–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teague, C. et al. (2014) Transit Officer Training Recommendations to Improve Safety in a High Stress Environment. International Journal of Training Research. [Online] 12 (1), 16–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thumala, A., Goold, B. & Loader, I. (2011) A Tainted Trade? Moral Ambivalence and Legitimation Work in the Private Security Industry. The British Journal of Sociology. [Online] 62 (2), 283–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Topno, H. (2012). Evaluation of Training and Development: An Analysis of Various Models. IOSR Journal of Business and Management Vol. 5(2), 16–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townshend, C. (2018) Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction. Very short introductions 78. Third edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • University of Phoenix. (2014). Security Industry Survey of Risks and Professional Competencies Executive Summary. Phoenix: University of Phoenix.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walter, S. (2014, 9 December) What legislative efforts to improve security guarding training keep failing. Retrieved from https://revealnews.org/article/why-legislative-efforts-to-improve-security-guard-training-keep-failing/.

  • Wakefield, A. (2006) ‘The Security Officer’, in M. L. Gill (ed.) The Handbook of Security. Palgrave handbooks. 1st edition Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield, A. & Button, M. (2014) ‘Private Policing in Public Spaces’, in The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing. [Online].

    Google Scholar 

  • White, A. & Gill, M. (2013) The Transformation of Policing: From Ratios to Rationalities. The British Journal of Criminology. [Online] 53 (1), 74–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, K., Bannister, M., & Schauder, D. (2003). Developing an Interpretive Approach to Competency-Based Training and Learning. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 34(2), 150–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Security Institute of Ireland, Tunbridge Wells, UK

    Declan Garrett

  2. The Justice Instiute of British Columbia, Tunbridge Wells, UK

    Glen Kitteringham

  3. University of Plymouth, Tunbridge Wells, UK

    Ken Livingstone

Authors
  1. Declan Garrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Glen Kitteringham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ken Livingstone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Declan Garrett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Perpetuity Research, Tunbridge Wells, UK

    Martin Gill

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Garrett, D., Kitteringham, G., Livingstone, K. (2022). Training and Education Within the Security Sector: Challenges and Opportunities for Development. In: Gill, M. (eds) The Handbook of Security. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91735-7_29

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91735-7_29

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91734-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91735-7

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation