Private Security and Emergency Responses

There was a great cover story in this issue (72) of Security Solutions Magazine about the potential role for Private Security in disaster management and recovery.  I found myself in agreement and thought I'd share some key points and thoughts on the matter.

There are 60,000 Security Personnel across Australia and New Zealand, both in-house and contracted, who hold qualifications in the provision of security services.

That's a direct quote from the aforementioned article by Don Williams and John Bigelow.

Just for reference, Sixty Thousand is roughly equal to the size of the Australian Army.

I was unable to find information about the role, if any, private security played in the Queensland Floods, but during a natural (or man made) disaster, surely the sheer number of private security personnel would provide significant improvements to resource availability and resource management.  They don't actually need to play a role within the most important tasks which are clearly appropriate for police, and other emergency services personnel.

A theoretical use for this would be a major city-wide disaster, perhaps even riots in London, where Police are not capable of handling the demand for public safety and security in the short term.  Local security firms could be mobilised on short notice, placed under the command of police in the chain, and handle less important tasks that none the less demand manpower, while police can apply their skills to more crucial areas.

The value of the training and experience of private security personnel is quite high in this situation, and the command chain being clearly in favour of the police provides less reason for confusion.  In the long term the theoretical examples' private security personnel would be able to be phased out as manpower increases.

The only  real barrier to this is communication infrastructure and training from both government and private security staff in mobilising in such a situation.  Having an extra hundred or so, or possibly thousand or so, personnel on hand in the crucial moments as a massive disaster unfolds could surely help save lives and provide a basis for a long term partnership.

Thoughts?