A private security company (PSC) is a

business entity In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

which provides armed or unarmed

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

services and expertise to clients in the private or public sectors.

Overview

Private security companies are defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as companies primarily engaged in providing guard and patrol services, such as bodyguard, guard dog, parking security and

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

services. Many of them will even provide advanced

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

services if the client demands it. Examples of services provided by these companies include the prevention of unauthorized activity or entry, traffic regulation, access control, and fire and theft prevention and detection. These services can be broadly described as the protection of personnel and/or assets. Other security services such as roving patrol, bodyguard, and guard dog services are also included, but are a very small portion of the industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some security companies engaged in vaccine supply chain services as well. The private security industry is rapidly growing – currently there are 2 million full-time security workers in the United States and this number is expected to increase by 21% percent through 2020, making the security industry a $100 billion a year industry, with projected growth to $200 billion by 2010. The United States is the world's largest consumer of private military and security services, and the private security industry in the U.S. began seeing a huge increase in demand in 2010. Since then, the U.S. security industry has already grown to be a $350 billion market.

General terms

Employees of private security companies are generally referred to either as "

s" or "security officers", depending on the laws of the state or country they operate in. Security companies themselves are sometimes referred to as "security contractors", but this is not common due to confusion with

private military contractors A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military ...

, who operate under a different auspice.

References

External links

Private Security Companies’ Firearms Stockpiles
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Small Arms Survey The Small Arms Survey (SAS) is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. It provides information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence, as a resour ...

Research Note on firearms ownership by private security companies https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/232781.pdf {{Bare URL PDF, date=March 2022 Law enforcement Privatization

Overview

General terms

See also

References

External links