Can Private Security Guards Act As Cops?(Chicago Privatizing some Law Enforcement?)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CBS2 Chicago

They're private security guards, already on patrol, but they may soon have the powers of Chicago Police officers.

As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the private security officers now on patrol on the city's Far South Side are expected to have their powers expanded as part of a citywide ordinance now being prepared.

But officials are questioning whether this means public safety is being outsourced.

Mayor Richard M. Daley has already privatized many city functions. The Chicago Skyway has been leased to a Spanish conglomerate. Midway Airport is run by a Canadian company. The parking meters were sold to a firm run by Morgan Stanley, and as a result, the cost of parking in the city has skyrocketed.

But the question is whether another foreign firm providing cops on patrol may be privatization gone too far.

-----

CBS 2 wanted to ask the Toronto-based firm which was the lowest bidder for contracts in the 9th and 10th wards about the background and training of its officers. Also in question was is how much experience the Canadian company has with the inner city problems which make the Roseland community a challenge for even the most streetwise Chicago Police professionals. The firm has not yet returned calls.

Read more: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/police.private.security.2.966243.html

[BreweryYardRat]

1. Bad idea.

I'll go into details later.

[Chulanowa]

3. I don't think details are needed

Unless that detail is expanding your stance to "Fucking Bad Idea"...

[sam sarrha]

5. i was a security guard.. Plenty of guards are cop wannabe's, and not in the least able to pass any o...

the requirements.. REALLY BAD BAD IDEA.

AND WORSE if they require the ones like myself and a lot of the others who only took the job out of desperation.. who have the sense not to want to be cops or have the responsibilities of cops.. to be required to perform law enforcement duties.

i was later a Juvenile Parole Officer.. but i wanted that job because it came with a requirement for a special project over 2 years/ i attempted a study using Meditation to break thru the dysfunctional Apriori Loop that is the cause of much of their inappropriate behavior. it worked TOO good and my pilot study was stopped.

[ixion]

14. way bad idea... freakin' bad. bad bad bad

did I mention it was bad?

[Towlie]

2. They do in Vegas casinos, with the mayor's blessings.

[stillcool]

4. I've read this before..

and it is effed up. Making a profit on government services has some nasty consequences..like what's happened to our prisons. There's a reason why we incarcerate more people than any country on the planet. That number doesn't take into account the percentage of population.

[KansDem]

9. Any deprivation of civil liberties should be the states' responsibilities...

Not some "private concern," whether it's "Rent-a-Cops" or private prisons.

Just wait for the first incident when a "Rent-a-Cop" attempts to arrest a private citizen...

[aquart]

6. Oh, the lovely lawsuits I can see.

[rcrush]

7. Giving Rentacops actuall power is not a good idea imo.

Every Rentacop I ever had to work with has been a moran. Always too eager to pull out whatever weapon they had and use it on someone. Actually I would be fucking worried as hell if Rent A Cops start having real cop powers.

[blm]

8. same fascist goal that unleashed DynCorp and Blackwater military forces and Halliburton's logistics

caretakers. How did that work out for our country?

[tularetom]

10. With a bunch of trigger happy rent a cop wannabes out there on the streets

We can expect to see the Oakland tragedy repeated again and again. It's a union busting tactic on the part of the mayor and it endangers the public in the long run.

[mopinko]

23. i do believe we have a winner.

in fairness, the city is in a vice. we are broke. the busting of the housing bubble derailed the gravy train. union contracts are always hard. cops have been pretty patient. but i hope to hell they go to the mat on this shit. those stores deserve actual police protection.
and if they want to hire some rent-a-cops, fine. we have plenty of those. but as others on this thread have said- we have enough trouble with the actual cops we have now. the pay outs for law suits would pay for more than enough cops to take care of this area.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. They can't control the cops on their own pay-roll now.

What makes them think some rent-a-cop loser won't be more corrupt and violent?

Sick of being one of Daley's walking fine-bots.

[saigon68]

22. Maybe they could give them 2 guns to carry.

After Daley disarms the population -----these guys can "Clean House" for him.

[tomm2thumbs]

12. parking enforcement- max in my opinion - and only if they live on the street they enforce

that should put a limit on it

[haele]

13. Parking enforcement and traffic control -

SDPD has something called RSVP, "Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol" - usually pairs of elderly volunteers with some security background riding around in squad cars to do traffic control and other "non-hazardous" community services like elderly/disabled welfare checks for the police. Frees up the officers for the more hazardous patrols and other duties. My understanding is that they get two uniforms and a minimal stipend - with no other real benefits. They also have a few other volunteer programs that provide similar services - and there are all sorts of funds for these sorts of volunteer programs at both the state and federal level to cover any outlay of cost.
Rent-a-cops as a reserve force is far more expensive to the PD than these programs.
Hmmm...I think someone has a good buddy or a relative running a security business that's seeing a loss of profit due to the economy.

Haele

[winyanstaz]

20. So if the government can just appoint civilians to be cops,...

why cant civilians just appoint each other to be cops too? I mean who the hell gave these people permission to do these things? Aren't they employees of the people? Don't they have a job outlining their duties and powers? Where does it say they can just do whatever the hell they want to?
Just saying..its the same thing as some people in our government felt they could just set up a "Shadow Government" (whatever the hell that is) to "take over" if anything "bad" happens.
Who are these people in the "Shadow Government" and if this is not treason then why are they hiding? Who the hell gave "permission" for anyone to do these things? Isn't a secret government against the constitution? Wouldn't that be treason against the duly elected officials of this land and of the Constitution?
If some secret person and persons unknown can do this..what is stopping anyone else? Heck we could all have our own "secret governments" lined up if just anyone can do it.
Privatizing cops just like we privatized the war in Iraq with Blackwater will lead to the same crimes on the streets of America that we hear of in Iraq.

[Indy Lurker]

24. You do have the power to arrest a felon

Any citizen has the power to detain and arrest a felon.

Of course if your wrong, and they are not a felon, you are open to charges of false imprisonment, and possibly battery.

When you are deputized to perform such functions, as a peace officer, or dog catcher, you are immune from prosecution unless you acted in a in a deliberately negligent manner.

[ixion]

15. it never limits it... it starts the slippery slope

and the initial response to your post demonstrates. First it's parking, then traffic, and on and on.

Nope. I think it's a bad idea to give rent-a-cops ANY police powers whatsoever.

[tomm2thumbs]

16. true

I was just being selfish because I wouldn't mind handing out parking tickets every now and then when someone parks in front of my garage or hydrant and no one answers the call for a parking cop. The police force already uses volunteers, perhaps it is simply the function they serve at question. Passing papers can also give one some authority in what gets taken care of - and the level of follow-up with research etc. It's probably going to come down to the fact that you always hear about volunteer fire departments but you really never hear about volunteer police squads. (not counting posse's of course)

[MadMaddie]

17. This is just as bad as the military allowing contractors to do

military jobs it doesn't work.

This is dangerous territory.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

18. I have been in three fights in my entire life

All of them were with rent-a-cops trying to detain me for infractions imagined or invented.

[MetaTrope]

19. More proof that the Daley Machine consists of Republicans in Dem clothing

[ManiacJoe]

21. How well to the San Fransisco Patrol Specials work?