Private securityPolice budget cuts a boon to private security picks
In cities across the United State, local law enforcement, facing deep budget cuts, has had to do more police work with fewer officers. New Jersey alone lost 4,200 officers between 2008 and 2011. The reduction in police force has been a boon to the U.S. private security industry, which is expected to earn more than $19 billion by 2016.
In cities across the United State, local law enforcement, facing deep budget cuts, has had to do more police work with fewer officers. New Jersey alone lost 4,200 officers between 2008 and 2011, according to the Policemen’s Benevolent Association.
The Seattle Times reports that tighter budgets have forced police agencies to change their tactics, turning to private security firms to take on the extra load.
“The public is frustrated by the police,” Glemser, a retired cop told the Seattle Times. “The citizenry is quick to say that the police don’t do anything for them. They should be saying the police can’t do anything for them because of this budgetary issue, this manpower problem, this directive we have that came down from the chief.”
Many wealthy individuals now hire hire private security to keep their homes and communities guarded. The U.S. private security industry is expected to earn more than $19 billion by 2016, according to the Freedonia Group.
For those who do not have the means, budget cuts and police force reductions mean more violence and crimes. Both rich and poor face the same reality, though: fewer crimes are being solved.
“We’ve never had budget crises like this — it’s a whole new situation,” Samuel Walker, emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, told the Times. “It’s entirely possible people just stop calling the police because they don’t expect anything, or take more protective measures, or don’t go out.”
Local government jobs around the nation, which include law enforcement, have dropped 4 percent since 2009, which is the same year the budget problems of many states became evident.
As a result, many police departments are picking and choosing which crimes to address and resolve, typically ignoring the investigation of smaller incidents. The city of Camden, New Jersey, broke its own record last year when it had sixty-seven murders to investigate. “With our budget cuts, obviously, we have to treat things like triage,” Robert Corrales, a spokesman for the city, said. “We handle the more pressing situations before routine traffic stops or speeding tickets.”
