That was my reaction upon reading on Fox News that Vance Luther Boelter, the accused man who heads the Praetorian Guard Security Services, a private security consulting group. The thing is the private sector and public sector security services are very inter-related, often with retired and even active duty police officers moonlighting in the private sector protection and loss-prevention sector.
The truth is that most police officers, outside of wealthy cities and states are pretty poorly paid. In wealthier areas, it’s true cops can make good money especially with overtime. But most police officers have fairly meager salaries, and many are actually quite poorly educated for all the power they have and the position of authority they hold, enforcing laws. It’s actually remarkable that a person who can arrest and detain a person over a technically-complex thing as the law, which spans millions of pages, in many cases is not required to have anything more then a high school diploma, and potentially an associates degree in criminal justice or a brief training course.
So it’s only logical for police officers to seek work in the private sector to make more money. And there is no requirements at all to work in the private sector protection and lost prevention sector, though many states have requirements for concealed carry of firearms and private investigations. Instead, people in the private security sector usually rely on other credentials to show their merits while marketing their services, such as police officer services, classes taken, experiences earned. But often the lines are blurred.
And because those lines are so blurry, private security consultants often have many of the same things are bonafide law enforcement officers. Many drive the same model automobiles are police do, indeed one of the local private investigators down the street is outfitted with a black Dodge Charger with steel wheels. Probably the persuit package, could even be a retired cop car, he either bought off the force he worked for or is currently employed by. He might even have a blue or black dress shirt and wear a badge. And he’s probably far better paid to many of the local cops, especially in small towns.
Many private sector security officers not only are cops retired or active, many also have very close relationships with politicians and actual serving policeman – scurrying favor by offering free security services at events – and personal defense and awareness training. Many enjoy cultivating their relationship at the local watering hole and elsewise. When you are in the private sector, and don’t have a public job, you can be a lot more loose with others. Many shoot at same ranges and hang out with real cops, they’re drinking buddies. And many meet at court and work together closely on law enforcement activities, such as prosecuting those accused of shoplifting and other crimes against businesses.
The truth is real cops probably should be closer to lawyers in their education, rather then tough men. District Attorneys have to be lawyers in most states, and certainly all higher-level judges and appeals judges are, though town justices often aren’t. The fact that police are so badly paid and often uneducated is a real problem and it only makes them more prone to getting caught up in ideological movements like the the III-percenters, who advocate using official positions to spark a political revolution. This is problematic on so many levels, when government enforcement officers – – the police — should be non-political and neutral enforcers of the law as written. It’s really messy.
Police should be paid more with a higher base salary, and work far less over time. At the same time, they should be much more strictly limited at what kind of outside income they can take and who they fratnize with. However, the private and public sector security and policing industries are closely linked, and both certainly have common interests and bonds that often are tightly linked.
