The Politics of Private Security: Regulation, Reform and Re-Legitimation

207 Pages·2010·0.965 MB·English

by  Adam White (auth.)

The Politics of Private Security
CrimePreventionandSecurityManagement
SeriesEditor:MartinGill
Titlesinclude:
MarkButton
DOINGSECURITY
CriticalReflectionsandanAgendaforChange
BobHoogenboom
THEGOVERNANCEOFPOLICINGANDSECURITY
Ironies,MythsandParadoxes
KateMoss
SECURITYANDLIBERTY
RestrictionbyStealth
AdamWhite
THEPOLITICSOFPRIVATESECURITY
Regulation,ReformandRe-Legitimation
Forthcoming:
JoshuaBamfield
SHOPPINGANDCRIME
PaulEkblom
THE5ISFRAMEWORKFORCRIMEPREVENTIONANDCOMMUNITYSAFETY
CrimePreventionandSecurityManagement
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The Politics of Private
Security
Regulation, Reform and Re-Legitimation
Adam White
UniversityofYork,UK
©AdamWhite2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-24294-4
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White,Adam,1981–
Thepoliticsofprivatesecurity:regulation,reformand
re-legitimation/AdamWhite.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
1. Privatesecurityservices—GreatBritain. 2. Police,
Private—GreatBritain. I. Title.
HV8291.G7W452010
363.28(cid:2)90941—dc22 2010027590
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
For Hannah
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
SeriesEditor’sPreface ix
Part I TheoryandContext
1 Introduction 3
2 Structure,AgencyandSecurity 21
Part II ThePoliticsofPrivateSecurityinBritain
3 EmergingAgendas(1945–59) 41
4 TheRegulationDebate(1960–9) 60
5 ParliamentaryPressure(1969–79) 80
6 TheNeoliberalExperiments(1979–96) 102
7 NewLabour,NewLegitimacy(1997–2001) 121
8 TheEraofRegulation(2001–10) 141
Part III ComparisonsandConclusions
9 TowardsaNewSocial-ScientificUnderstanding 167
Notes 185
Bibliography 187
Index 198
vii
Acknowledgements
Thisbookhasbeenfiveyearsinthemaking.OverthistimeIhavebeen
helped along the way by many, many people and I would like to take
this opportunity to mention a few of them. I would first like to thank
Martin Smith, who has been a constant source of support and inspi-
ration. I am also indebted to Craig Berry, Matthew Flinders, Richard
Hayton, Mike Kenny, Mike Neu, Ben Richardson and many others at
the University of Sheffield with whom I have had the great fortune to
discuss various aspects of my research. Rob Collins and Sarah Cooke
havealsoplayedanimportantroleingettingmyresearchideasoffthe
ground and I am very grateful to them. Outside of Sheffield, I would
especially like to thank Joel Migdal and Tim Newburn, both of whom
havebeeninfluentialinshapingmyarguments.Manythanksalsogoto
MarkButtonandImogenHayat,eachofwhomhashelpedmetomove
variousaspectsofmyresearchforwardatimportantmoments.Iwould
liketothankMartinGillforbeinganextremelysupportive,enthusiastic
and insightful series editor. I would also like to thank Philippa Grand,
JonLloydandOliviaMiddletonfortheirfirstclassassistanceandinput
during the publication process. I owe a big thank you to Budd, Steve
and Porter, whose sofa beds have been an integral part of my tran-
sientresearchlifeawayfromSheffield.Iwouldalsoliketoacknowledge
the generous financial support I have received over the past five years.
ThishasincludedanESRC1+3doctoralstudentship,anESRCresearch
grant,aSecurityIndustryAuthorityresearchcontractandascholarship
fromtheWorldwideUniversitiesNetwork.Lastly Iwouldlike tothank
myfamily.Myparentshavealwaysbeenverysupportiveofmyacademic
careerandIwouldliketosincerelythankthemfortheirenthusiasmand
advice. I would like to thank my dog, Noel, for keeping me company
throughthenumerousall-nighterswhichhavebeenpartofthewriting
process (and for sensibly chewing some of my more problematic pas-
sages to pieces). And finally I would to thank my wife, Hannah, who
has been beside me at all times, always making me happy and always
believinginme–thisbookisdedicatedtoyou.
viii
Series Editor’s Preface
Todate,thehistoryofprivatesecurityhastypicallybeendiscussedasa
sideshowtothehistoryofthepolice.Whereithasbeendiscussedthere
has,asAdamWhiteshows,beenmoreofanemphasisontheeconomics
ofprivatesecurityattheexpenseofaccountsofthepoliticalcontextin
which private security has developed. This book is different; it focuses
on the politics of the security sector, charting its development and its
uneasy relationship with policing organs of the state from 1945 to the
presentday.Itdifferentiatesitselffromalmostallothertextsinfocusing
onwhatAdamcallsthe‘politicaleconomyofprivatesecurity’.
In marking new ground, Adam sets out the need for new concepts.
Theseincludethe‘reform’agenda,whichhasbeengearedtowardsdefin-
ingaroleforprivatesecuritythatensuresthatitactsintheinterestsof
the‘publicgood’,andthe‘re-legitimation’agenda,whichispremisedon
makingprivatesecuritycredible.ForAdam,theroleof‘regulation’–the
roadtowhichheanalysesingreatdetail–combinesthereformagenda
ofthestatewiththere-legitimationagendaofthesecurityindustry.Itis
this political context that affords new insights into changing percep-
tions of private security, both from outside agencies such as the police
(whohavelongremainedsceptical)andtheHomeOffice,aswellasthe
industry’sviewofitself.
Adam traces the vicissitudes of private security through the political
contexts of different eras, showing how each shaped the road to regu-
lation, and ultimately the form of regulation that emerged. He argues
that the type of regulation that was incorporated into law and then
intopractice(throughtheSecurityIndustryAuthority[SIA])wasalways
destined to fall short of meeting the expectations of the main political
players. This was in part due to political expediency, but also because
the SIA made unrealistic claims that it would transform the industry,
something it was not set up to do and that was in any case beyond its
remit.
Adam’s analysis enables us to understand the evolution of private
security, its relationship with the state and its route to being seen as
a(more)crediblepartnerforthepolice.As aconsequencewearemore
fullyabletoaddress,asAdamdoesforus,keyissuessuchashowprivate
security companies have become so prominent, what motivates them,
ix
x SeriesEditor’sPreface
what their relationship with the state now is, how they can be con-
trolled, and what the future will hold for security companies and for
securityprovisioninsociety.
Forallthoseinterestedinthepoliticalcontextofhowdecisionsabout
private security have shaped its destiny, its strengths and weaknesses,
this text will become essential reading. Moreover, Adam has laid the
foundationforthinkingaboutprivatesecuritythroughnewlensesand
in so doing offers new possibilities not only for future researchers, but
alsoforcurrentpolicymakerschargedwiththenarroweraimofimprov-
ingprivatesecurityregulationandthebroaderaimoffacilitatingamore
informeddebateabouthowpolicingcanbebetterunderstoodandren-
deredmoreeffective.
MARTINGILL