The interface between private security and the police

The vast expansion of private security services, seen in several countries, especially from the mid-twentieth century, brought to light important issues concerning the contemporary transformations that are occurring in the exercise of policing. These changes has reflected, especially, an economic logic of the expansion of this kind of services, which is creating important changes in the regulatory framework, in the authorization and provision of the policing and in the spaces under jurisdiction of the police. In Brazil, since their official beginnings in 1969, the private security services have presented linear growth in this country. Their main period of expansion has occurred since the 90s, and has been characterized by the increasing number of private security companies, of the number of watchmen on the streets and the evident development of the electronic security device industry. From a critical comparison between the regulatory framework and the practical aspects of these services in their context of action, particularly in interface between public policing and private policing, this article seeks to discuss and clarify some of the issues that are at stake for understanding the impact of the private security sector on policing.