Or at least a review of the PSC part of this survey. Although I did find it disconcerting that they talked with several ‘private security commentators’ and industry professionals, but made no effort to contact this blog. I mean there are only a handful of us folks who actually work in this industry, and write about it on a day to day basis. To not recognize the significance of such a resource, tells me that perhaps they were lazy or did not care to gain that kind of insight? Such information would have made a better product, and all it would have taken is an email….Oh what a burden? lol With that said, let me highlight some of the pros and cons of this survey.
The lack of information about PSC’s and their weapons use in the maritime security market is disappointing. These figures would have been very useful for pointing out deficiencies or strengths in this part of the industry. And if you were to make the connection between the statistic of low rates of armed PSC’s and Western Europe, and the fact that most of today’s maritime security PSC usage comes from this region, then you can see exactly what I am getting at here. If these countries are adverse to arming PSC’s, and yet those same PSC’s are the majority of security out there protecting vessels from heavily armed pirates, then that is not a good ratio.
Furthermore, their data on the types of weapons contractors are using out there is off. The type of weapons that contractors are using and have available to them, is far more varied than what they listed. I will leave it at that.
I would have also liked some more statistics and focus on homemade weaponry. With the internet and the availability of opensource information about the proper construction of weapons, I would be very curious as to the state of DIY weapons manufacturing out there. It would have also brought more attention to the concept of Opensource Military Hardware.
I do want to give praise for the effort, and it was very informative. It was very interesting to know that there are more PSC’s than police, and yet the police and the militaries of the world have far more weapons. To me, this is shocking. PSC’s are increasingly becoming the front line troops when it comes to terrorism, drug wars, pirates, etc., and yet here we are throwing guards into harms way without these very basic tools of defense and self protection.
I have not been able to read the rest of the survey, but I would be interested to hear about the small arms usage of terrorists, pirates, drug cartels, etc. if such a statistic could be formulated. I imagine this figure would be pretty startling. But the most disturbing aspect of such a statistic, is the idea that we are using all of these unarmed private security forces to defend against these heavily armed malcontents. I am already seeing this with the maritime security industry, and that alone has been a battle to promote the idea of putting armed guards on boats. And not just armed, but armed with sufficient firepower to deal with the potential threats.
To me, it is an issue of safety for the guard and an issue of actually providing ‘real security’ services to the client, as opposed to providing security theater. Every guard out there should be able to look their client in the eye and say ‘I am ready to take on any and all threats, in the defense of you and your property’. Guards that are unarmed or poorly trained will contribute to failure–which equates to more industry scrutiny and consternation.
The survey noted this, and also noted the important efforts of this industry to get squared away. Things like signing the ICoC or rallying around the Montreux Document are all signs that the industry wants accountability, and they want to give the client the confidence to use their services.
But as the survey has noted, time and time again, it is the governments of the world who have dropped the ball when it comes to regulating or coming up with the laws to properly manage this industry. I have done much to highlight these deficiencies in the past on this blog, and will continue to do so. I will also continue to provide solutions for countries and clients, to help them get the best service and contract they can get out of their PSC’s and PMC’s. I will also continue to do my part to promote a business/warrior ethos called Jundism amongst my peers, as well as promote real security solutions to the world’s complex security environments.
It is also very interesting to me that the Police and Military forces of the world get far more respect than PSC’s, and yet here we are, taking on more and more responsibilities and dealing with more complex threats. Everything a cop or soldier might encounter, PSC’s could encounter as well. And yet PSC’s continue to do what they do with less arms, less legal authority, less regulation, less training, less accountability and all because we are less cost. We have ‘cheaper’ down, we have ‘faster’ down, but we still have a ways to go when it comes to ‘better’. But I am optimistic, because we are slowly evolving, learning, improving our standing as ‘better’, despite the nation state’s inability to keep up with regulations/management/accountability. –Matt
On Growth
The private security sector has been booming since the mid-1980s and continues to grow steadily (van Dijk, 2008,
p. 217). Recent estimates show that the security market is worth about USD 100–165 billion per year, and that it has
been growing at an annual rate of 7–8 per cent.4 The scale of growth is further illustrated by significant increases in
the number of personnel employed over time and across regions:
• In France, the sector expanded from just over 100,000 employees in 1982 to 160,000 in 2010 (Ocqueteau, 2006,
p. 65; CoESS and APEG, 2010, p. 12).
• Japanese PSC personnel increased from just over 70,000 guards in 1975 to nearly 460,000 in 2003 (Yoshida and
Leishman, 2006, p. 232).
• In South Africa, the number of registered security officers more than tripled in the space of 13 years, from about
115,000 in 1997 to nearly 390,000 in 2010 (Berg, 2007, p. 5; PSIRA, 2010, p. 4).Informal Security Arrangements
It is beyond the scope of this chapter to document the number of people participating in informal security arrange-
ments; however, the figures reportedly hover around 50,000 in Argentina, between 670,000 and 1,000,000 in Brazil,
and from 240,000 to 600,000 in Mexico (Godnick, 2009; Arias, 2009, pp. 26–27). In Francophone African countries,
some communities seek to fill the state security vacuum by establishing informal neighbourhood militia groups, while
young men faced with economic hardship provide free bodyguard services to businessmen in exchange for food—
activities that are reported by neither industry nor governments (Kougniazondé, 2010, pp. 6, 8). Informal security
schemes, ranging from neighbourhood watch to armed vigilante groups, can be found across the globe and provide
additional evidence of a global demand for security that exceeds what states can offer.On DIY Weapons Manufacturing And PSC’s
In Tanzania, illegally produced ‘home-made’ guns called magobori feature among PSC weapons.55
PSC Laws And Regulations In The US
In the United States, there are no federal
laws governing the domestic PSC industry. State laws with regard to training of PSC guards vary: 16 US states do not
require background checks before someone can be hired by a PSC; 30 states do not require training; 20 states provide
for mandatory training, but the requirements vary between 1 and 48 hours; in 22 states, private security services do
not have to be licensed (da Silva, 2010).Latin America PSC Use
Overall, and based on available information, Latin America stands out as the region where PSCs are the most
armed, with ratios of arms to personnel ranging from 0.34 firearms in Nicaragua to 0.86 in El Salvador (see Table 4.4).
A range of 0.3 to 0.8 firearms per PSC employee is therefore applied to other known PSC staff in the region in Table 4.5.
Western European rates are believed to be particularly low. Countries such as Norway and the United Kingdom
do not allow PSCs to possess weapons at all (CoESS, 2008). The Geneva PSC’s rate of 0.06 firearms per employee29
and information revealing that only two per cent of Swedish PSC employees are authorized to use firearms (CoESS,
2008) point to low levels of PSC armament even in countries where the use of firearms by PSCs is allowed. Some
countries in the region may be home to larger PSC stockpiles, however. In Spain, for instance, more than 20 per cent
of PSC personnel may be armed (see Table 4.3). As a result, 0.02–0.15 is the ratio applied to reported PSC personnel
in Western European states.In Summary
The private security industry has expanded to employ some 20 million documented personnel worldwide—almost twice the number of police officers, reveals the Small Arms Survey 2011. In some countries, the figure represents a doubling or even a tripling of the number of private security workers over the past 10–20 years. Government outsourcing of many security functions appears to be driving the boom, among other factors.
Despite the rapid growth of the sector, private security personnel hold far fewer firearms than do state security forces. A review of data for 70 countries reveals that they hold no more than 4 million, compared to some 26 million held by law enforcement and 200 million held by armed forces. Findings also show that private security arms are not evenly distributed. Outside of conflict-affected zones, Latin America is the region with the highest ratio of arms per employee—about ten times higher than in Western Europe.
Regulation and accountability mechanisms have not kept up with the growth of the private security industry. Despite evidence that some private security companies have engaged in the illegal acquisition of firearms, have lost weapons through theft, or have misused their arsenals, there is no systematic reporting of such misconduct.
‘In prisons, at airports, along borders, and on the street, security provision is increasingly in the hands of private actors,’ said Small Arms Survey Programme Director Keith Krause. ‘The key question—to which we don’t know the answer—is whether these evolving arrangements are enhancing or impairing security.’
The Survey also reviews legislation governing civilian possession of firearms in 42 jurisdictions around the world. It finds that almost all of them prohibit access to certain firearms they consider ill-suited to civilian use; the vast majority have a system of owner licensing in place to prevent certain types of civilians, such as criminals, from owning firearms; and many register firearms or maintain records of firearms owned. Of the jurisdictions reviewed , the vast majority (40) regard civilian gun possession as a privilege, while only two treat it as a basic right.
The Survey includes case studies examining the dynamics of both public and private security provision in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, and Madagascar.
Three full chapters—on authorized light weapons transfers, on private security and small arms, and on regulation of civilian firearm possession—are available for download, along with chapter summaries of all chapters in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. For the previous editions of the Small Arms Survey (2001-2010), all chapters are now available to download in full.
Link to Small Arms Survey here.