Company Police

[Thin Blue Line]

How do you all feel about these "company police agencies" that seem to be popping up everywhere in N.C. While I'm not judging or bashing these guys and girls, after all they are sworn LEOs, I have only had really negative experiences dealing with the agencies I have come into contact with.

Again, not bashing, just wondering what you all think about these guys?

[Jackdanoelswcu]

Like the OP said I have not had a good interactions with any company police agencies I have dealt with I emphasize on agencies and not on the people making the living. I have seen some very good officers come out of company police agencies. Company police agencies are turning a function of the government into a private industry. Policing should not generate profits in any way for private business or a person. This type of policing can lead to the miscarriage of justice more so then government run agencies. We all know what politics with in a government department can but what if your sole survival is on contracts form others that pay for service that may also attach criminal penalty when laws are broken.

[jnhdrac]

I have had very positive interaction with the railroad police that I have worked with. I have never had much interaction with the contract special police agencies.

[Michaeluncfan73]

How do you all feel about these "company police agencies" that seem to be popping up everywhere in N.C. While I'm not judging or bashing these guys and girls, after all they are sworn LEOs, I have only had really negative experiences dealing with the agencies I have come into contact with.

Again, not bashing, just wondering what you all think about these guys?

I work for a hospital police department and we fall under the "company police" classification as well. We do have a good working relationship with the other agencies within the county though. When you say you've had negative experiences what do you mean? We have two private "agencies" that operate within this county that work for various contracts and that is where the complaints regarding "company police" have come from for us locally.

There was an article in the local paper a few months back that pretty much slammed "company police" and it mentioned the problems that one of the agencies was having. The comments made by a judge in that article weren't exactly flattering either, so nice of them to lump us all in the same boat.

Anyway. I just wanted to respond to your question since I fall under that category. Have a good night and stay safe.

[Thin Blue Line]

I apologize for the lack of clarity in my original post regarding company police. While railroad and hospital police do fall under the company police umbrella, I was referring to these "contract company police agencies," that we have had problems with in the southeastern part of the state.

Did not mean to imply AT ALL anything bad about railroad or hospital police, always had good experiences with those agencies.

My problem is exactly what Jackdanoelswcu was talking about and that is the fact that policing for profit in my opinion presents a number of issues.

I'm not really knocking the people who work for these companies/agencies, whatever you want to call them, as much as I am the concept of contract company policing.

Be Safe

[Landric]

I apologize for the lack of clarity in my original post regarding company police. While railroad and hospital police do fall under the company police umbrella, I was referring to these "contract company police agencies," that we have had problems with in the southeastern part of the state.

Did not mean to imply AT ALL anything bad about railroad or hospital police, always had good experiences with those agencies.

My problem is exactly what Jackdanoelswcu was talking about and that is the fact that policing for profit in my opinion presents a number of issues.

I'm not really knocking the people who work for these companies/agencies, whatever you want to call them, as much as I am the concept of contract company policing.

Be Safe

I find the whole idea of Compay Police strange.

That said, I work part-time for a company police agency. I was a full-time municipal LEO in Virginia for ten years before I moved back to North Carolina (and I am still a reserve in Virginia). I work full-time for Probation and Parole now.

I took the job for two reasons:

1) I wanted to get certified in NC in case I decide to go back to police work full-time (P&P officers are certified through training and standards, but it is not the same certification as BLET, so it wouldn't help for going back to police work).

2) I wanted to make some extra cash on the side.

Most of our officers work full-time for one municipal department or another. Most of the work we do is very similar to the off-duty work I did in Virginia: patrolling apartment complexes, working concerts, night clubs, etc.

I can see the need for company police, but I do have a problem with for-profit policing. Luckily the law doesn't allow company PDs to collect money from fines and seizures the way government agencies can.

[B4uGO]

With regards to Company Police

I posted when the article was posted on the forum several months ago. I am still under the impression that company police (meaning basically for profit security agencies given police powers under state mandate and training standards) just goes too far in that the government has given up power that should rest exclusively in the hands of government and transfered this power to for profit organizations. To me that abdication seems just plain wrong. As I stated before I don't have a problem with non-profit agencies such as schools, hospitals, railroads, ASPCA, cemeteries, etc. having police agencies. I personally worked for two schools (one private college and one state university) in Pennsylvania. And, I was also worked in public LE as a deputy constable there for a few years. But, these non-profit organizations have other principle agendas in mind, and it just so happens that for the safety of the public at large these agencies were established to maintain lawful peace and order.

I question the wisdom of turning over these powers to private companies. It leads one down a slippery slope of perceived entitlements (a prime historical example are the British East and West India Companies). I mentioned them because in their heyday they could act on behalf of Britain outside the boundaries of England with the force of British law behind them. That thought alone is scary. I know a few private police officers and I have nothing, but good things to say about them. However, that doesn't mean that the companies that they work for are not looking at any more than the bottom line. and I feel that that could lead to major abuses of authority granted. Another example of this abuse of authority is from the American West. The gun fight at the OK corral was essentially between two sets of law officers one public and one private. Think about it! The major worry that sticks in my crawl and I don't know for sure, so I am sure that I will be corrected if I am wrong, but one really cannot tell where allegiances lie. Meaning with the government and constitution whom I believe the company police are sworn to defend, or the bottom line profits of the company that has been granted this power. That bothers me. This same issue bothers me with regard to the privatization of prisons to which so many states and municipalities have resorted.

At any rate for all my brothers behind the Thin Blue Line,
Private, Public, and Company
Stay Safe

[warrior_oh58d]

I work for one in the piedmont area and enjoy it very much, the company police division is run seperately from the security division but many times we work together with the armed security guards. Everyone (for the most part) conducts themselves very professionally and does the right thing. there have been instances of jurisdiction issues but those get cleared up pretty easily. We're not run like a bunch of security guards with little or no training, we hold in service training and the whole gambit. It is a for-profit agency but the services we provide are mostly for municipalities, county buildings, transit, hospitals, personal security for dignitaries among other things. i don't have anything to prove i just want y'all to know that we are a good group (again for the most part) and can be an asset to the officer on the street, after all we are real cops and many have tons of experience (mine came from the military)......unfortunately your results may vary.....just remember there are slackers in your department too

[mjw064]

company police can only use their police powers to enforce the laws of the US and North Carolina anyway (as opposed to company policy), so what does it matter who actually employs the police officer. it's no different than an off duty municipal cop working an off-duty detail at a grocery store ... he's paid by the grocery store, but still can only arrest/cite people for violations of the law, not violations of the store's policies. EMS has been privatized for many years and is pretty much blindly accepted across the country, although you sometimes hear the same arguments that companies shouldnt "profit" off of someone's medical emergency ... but c'mon; everyone has to make a living, does it really make a difference who the person works for?

in the same way, in DC we have Special Police. although it was originally meant for hospitals, colleges, transit systems and large companies for their in house security/law enforcment forces, it has evolved into a system where security companies employ thousands of special police officers to businesses throughout the city with little or no training. of course, then the legitimate special police officers that work for the universities and hospitals get lumped in with the security company special police officers and the public develops a very negative image of all of them.