As more cities defund or “reimagine” their police departments, many wonder what the future of policing looks like and if that future includes the private police forces. There is no denying the size and budget of a municipal police force benefits the community as a whole.
However, the size and budgets of these departments are exactly what is diminished when defunding or reimagining happens. This is why the benefits of a private or personal police force could far outweigh the positives of a municipal department for most homeowners, business-owners, and communities. whether they consist of off duty officers or retired officers.
Let’s start with the basics. While many throughout the country and even in our own communities are calling for the police to be defunded, no one wants less safety. If anything, those who want a slimmer police department believe it will lead to a safer society, as the funding can be diverted to programs designed to reduce crime through community investments.
There is much evidence to the contrary which those who are slashing police departments are considering. It is proven that the mere presence of a police officer deters crime. In fact, the mere presence of an empty patrol vehicle causes criminal driving practices to dwindle.
With this information in mind, many communities, HOAs, schools, colleges, business districts, and commercial facilities may decide to hire their own private police force to either replace many of the functions or supplement the response the local police provides.We already see this on many levels. Gated communities have attendants and roving security patrols. Homeowners have private security systems which alert a company rather than the police department. Businesses have security guards to protect their assets. Celebrities have their own close protection agents and estate security agents. Private investigators are cracking cases police departments won’t take and handing over their evidence to city and district attorneys for prosecution.
The reality is while policing, patrolling for, and responding to crime may not be privatized, many of the acts of protecting and serving the public and communities across the country certainly are already privatized.
AEGIS Security & Investigations provides all of those services and then some. These services work and provide greater benefits than the municipal police department (even when fully funded) for a number of reasons. The first is the relationship AEGIS’ skilled professionals have with their clients. A good rapport between the police and those they protect is a massive indicator of a police force’s effectiveness according to The College of Policing in the UK.
Rapport is one of the many factors which separates public and private police services. Most people don’t know a single police officer by name in their city. However, those who hire their own private off duty or retired police through AEGIS always know who is protecting them.
Another key difference between private and public police is the threshold for a response and how quick and robust of a response you receive. When dealing with public police there are many disturbances which get little to no response and you could wait quite a while for an officer to arrive at your door. Compare this to AEGIS off-duty officers and security officers which when protecting and serving you are on-site and ready to respond within seconds.
There is also the element of public policing which is largely reactive. Private off duty police forces are protecting their clients, not chasing criminals all over the city, which allows them to focus and be proactive and preventative.
For example AEGIS’ remote threat mitigation & management global security operations center is staffed 24/7 with skilled professionals monitoring your assets and property while simultaneously assessing and reporting potential risks before they become larger problems. Public police can not promise this type of protection for everyone because their task is not to protect you, your home, your business, or community. Their task is to protect the city as a whole.
This truly is the biggest difference between public and private police forces and why even before moves to defund the police many already turned to private protection. Typically the most police are assigned to the areas with the most crime. Their goal is to prevent and protect through a greater footprint.
This means in many cases people who pay for the police through their taxes aren’t always getting the benefits or protection of the department they fund. When you hire a private police force through AEGIS it is tailored and designed with your specific needs in mind. It is contracted to protect you, your home, your business, or your community.
The relationship and singularity of focus between you and your dedicated police force makes your safety and security the priority. All of this is why even before the landscape changed, the privatization of police services was already a high-demand business.
We do however recognize that funding private police and private security is not an option for many small business owners or citizens within the communities we serve. There should always be proactive, fair, professional, community funded and oriented crime prevention and emergency response programs and we look forward to our continued partnership with these organizations as they continue to become re-imagined.
