The History Private Security in America

The History Private Security in America
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The private security has an in-depth standing in the history. In actual sense, the history of private security is richer than the public security services. Security in United States has developed from the period of the first settlers to the present’s well-trained forces (Dempsey, 2010). Factors influencing the immense development of private security services beginning from pre-civil war toward post-World War II were due to lack of adequate services of the public police and huge monetary loss by private organizations. At present time, security is a global concern and encounters changes and problems, with increasing cases of technology crimes and terrorism. There is a need to maintain security with high professionalism and technological innovation in order for it to remain relevant to human needs and safety. This paper examines the historical development of private security in United States and discusses factors leading to the significant growth of private security. The paper also examines how private security’s move toward professionalism, and studies why today’s security personnel might be interested in knowing the history of the industry’s development.
The 19th century was a time in which the private security industry emerged to fill in several gaps left by public security services. Public police force experienced slow development and lack of efficiency since its inception in America. In the later part of 1800s, police departments were often corrupt, decentralized, and fragmented. This led to a need for private security services. Purpura (2011) explains that there was an extreme lack of law enforcement personnel, and as result citizens resorted to hiring private security forces and vigilante justice. During 1850, William Fargo and Henry Wells developed American Express and Wells Fargo cargo firms. In 1851, Allen Pinkerton formed the first national private security, which also provided investigation services. Pinkerton offered investigative and security services to expansion of the railroads; provided private detective services and was an intelligence arm serving the Union Army in the first half period of the Civil War.
August Perry patented the first burglar alarm in 1853, which was followed by Edwin Holmes in 1858 who created the first central station burglar alarm. In 1859, Washington Perry Brinks established the freight carriage to offer transportation services for money and valuables. In the late 1800s, the te...