Providing security in the city of brotherly love : an analysis of the restructuring of policing and its consequences for the city of Philadelphia

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2006-12-08T19:00:57Z
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2598785 bytes
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2003
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en_US
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The most profound change that has occurred in policing over the past fifty years was characterized by Bayley and Shearing in 2001 as the "restructuring of modern policing." While this restructuring involves many dzfferent aspects, the one that could potentially have the biggest impact is the growing influence of the private security industry in the realm of policing. This paper describes the history and the socio-political factors that have contributed to the restructuring of policing and the changing roles of both the public and the private sectors as they relate to security provision. The main purpose is to evaluate the consequences restructuring has had on both the quality of security provision in general and the rights of individual citizens. Many academics believe that the lack of an effective mechanism of accountability for private security guards, as well as the liability issues that arise as private and public sectors interact within the business of policing, means that restructuring will have a negative impact on the city. Some even believe that restructuring is creating a "widening net of social control, "as increased interaction between public and private providers of security leads to invasions of privacy and individual liberties. Using Philadelphia as a case study, the argument put forth in this paper goes contrary to the received academic opinion. In my view, restructuring is having only a limited effect on both the public police and the rest of the city's population. Contrary to what is commonly found in the literature, the effects of restructuring in Philadelphia have, for the most part, been positive. The city has indeed benefitted from whatever restructuring has taken place; given the continuation and development of current policy, benefits will accrue in the near future.
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