1. ¹Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824–1118, USA
2. ²Assistant Professor at University Massachusetts at Lowell, Department of Criminal Justice, Lowell, MA 01854

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a recent survey of 127 police officers and 109 security professionals in a Midwestern state in the USA, which revealed interesting findings on the working relationship between public law enforcement and private security agencies. Overall, security professionals' perceptions of their relationship with police departments were positive. However, most intriguingly, security professionals felt that police officers do not view working with private security positively, even though police officers indicate the contrary. Written comments from both sides provide insights on the issues that hamper an effective working relationship between them. Also, the findings reveal that both police officers and security professionals believe that they could probably do more to encourage a positive working relationship, thus leading us to conclude that mistaken perceptions and a lack of communication are hindrances as well.