Evaluation and Growth of Private Policing in India
| Author | Anup Sahu |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120140404 |
| Published date | 01 October 2014 |
| Date | 01 October 2014 |
EVALUATION AND
GROWTH
OF
PRIVATE
POLICING
IN
INDIA
ANUPSAHU
In
todays
society policing
is
conducted not
just
by
those people
commonly referred to as 'police' but
by
a host
of
private
and
non-government operatives. There is now a
rapid
trend
of
privatisation
of
police
services. This is a trend
which
is
changing the law enforcement landscape. Finding the state
.policing
inadequate
and
ineffective, many individuals as
well
as establishments have gone to agencies/or personal security
problems. Moreover, as government has sought to withdraw
from
many areas
of
their traditional law
and
order functions,
private bodies have assumed an important role. However, the
phenomenon
of
private policing has raised some significant
ethical
and
legal concerns. This article seeks to discuss
and
analyse 'private policing', an emerging trend in the era
of
dual law enforcement which is
all
set
to
expand
with the
ongoing changes in society
and
governance. Given the
long
standing neglect
of
private policing the article is preliminary
and
exploratory.
It
aims not to exhaust a subject
of
study, but
to begin one.
INTRODUCTION
WE LIVE in an
era
of
public and private regulatory flux. The outcome
of
this is a society in which policing is conducted not
just
by those people
commonly referred to as
'police'
but
by
a host
of
private and
non-
govemment operatives. There is now a rapid trend
of
privatisation
of
police
services. This
is
a trend which
is
changing the law enforcement landscape.
Finding the state policing inadequate and ineffective, many private
individuals as well as establishments have gone to private security agencies
for personal security problems. The mushrooming
of
such outfits all over
the world, including India,
is
a testimony to this trend.1
'R. K.Raghvan, "Policing and Private Initiatives", Frontline,
Vol.
20, No. 3, 1-
14
February,
p.
1,11,
2003.
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