Keeping the peace

Emma Freire’s interest in private security started overseas, but she quickly learned it wasn’t just an international phenomenon. Her story, “Outsourcing protection,” in this issue explores how U.S. communities plagued by high crime, including her current home base in Baltimore, are turning to security guards to cover what were once considered police responsibilities. I asked her what else might surprise readers about this trend.

Tell us about your first experience with private security. I spent two years living in South Africa, where crime rates are high and police are totally ineffective. Everyone in the ­middle class and up hires private security. It was shocking when I first learned about it, but it quickly started to seem perfectly normal. My local private security firm patrolled my street multiple times a day, but I never saw the police except when they were handing out traffic tickets. Private security firms in South Africa are innovative and have figured out ways to offer their services to many people at affordable rates.

What are some downsides to these types of arrangements? Private security guards don’t have a formal role in the criminal justice system like the police do. In my story, I described an incident when guard Brian Askew detained a suspect until the police arrived. Askew thinks the police took the suspect’s information and then let him go pending some type of investi­gation. Askew was the first one to respond to the incident, but after that he was cut out of the process. That’s a major downside to private security.

What similarities do you see between places like South Africa and high-crime U.S. cities like Baltimore? Living in a challenging place like South Africa gave me greater respect for human creativity and resourcefulness. South Africans find ways to live their lives despite the crime rates. In America, people often move out of high-crime areas. That’s usually the right decision, particularly if you have children. But I’m impressed with people like Ian Neuman and Brad O’Brien, whom I featured in my story. They have different ideas about how to make their neighborhood safer, but neither of them is sitting around waiting for the government to get its act together. They are taking initiative themselves.

What’s one thing you think readers should know about the state of ­private security in America? When I moved back to America in 2021, I assumed private security would be growing in the wake of the “Defund the Police” movement. I discovered that, in fact, it is already huge. Private security firms adapt their services to local contexts. For example, in cities with large homeless populations you may see guards who function a lot like social workers. In places like Baltimore where violent crime is the big problem, you will see guards acting more like traditional police officers.