Historical Development of Private Security in the United States Term Paper

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private security in the United States is indelibly related to U.S. history in general, for the simple fact that prior to the founding of the country, security -- in its most basic form -- was essentially handled by civilians. This occurrence was common before the colonies became organized and before there were official police or even federal troops. Perhaps the apex of this tendency on the part of the American people to become privately involved in issues of security was in the era during the Colonial War, when privateering was extremely profitable for a number of westernized nations. For the most part, privateers were little more than pirates; yet they still managed to combine their personal interests with that of their country during the aforementioned martial encounter.

Private security as it is known in its current conception in the U.S. began in earnest during the midway point of the 19th century with the arrival of Allan Pinkerton, an immigrant who founded the country's first private security company in 1850, the National Detective Agency (Bureau of Security, 2013). Pinkerton did more to support the growth of the private security industry than virtually anyone since. That growth was largely linked to the advancements in technologies of which Pinkerton managed to take advantage. Midway through the 19th century the U.S. was still expanding westward. Its railway system was in place, but the government did not have the financial resources or the manpower to fully protect passengers and employees at all of the various stations across the country.

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Some of Pinkerton's most valuable work came in the form of protecting various railroad stations and personnel, especially since, at that time, there were no federal agents travelling between states to monitor the activities of bandits (Bureau of Security, 2013).

The lack of efficacy of conventional public forces (the police and the military) was no small aid in encouraging the rapid deployments of private security companies such as Pinkerton's. Because of the provincial nature of law enforcement, fleeing criminals merely had to flee the state or the town they were in to evade authorities. The limited communication devices of the time were a further hindrance to law enforcement agencies. In contrast, private security companies could afford to hire out men to chase down criminals as far as the former wanted. The expansion of the railroad and of Pinkerton's agency was parallel, and helped to vastly increase the growth of private security companies on a national scale.

The turn towards the professionalism of private security companies fully emerged near the turn of the twentieth century. By this time, individuals employed by such agencies performed a number of tasks including, but not limited to: pursuing criminals, investigating crimes, as well as facilitating standard security jobs for businesses such as banks,….....

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