1. Outline the historical development of security in America.

2. Discuss changing crime trends over the past decades.

3. Understand the role of professional associations/organizations in the development of a professional security industry.

4. Consider the changing role of security in our 21st century world.

Introduction

Security implies a stable, relatively predictable environment in which an individual or group may pursue its ends without disruption or harm and without fear of disturbance or injury. The concept of security in an organizational sense has evolved gradually throughout the history of Western civilization, shaped by a wide variety of institutional and cultural patterns.

In examining the origins and development of security, it should be noted that security holds a mirror up, not to nature, but to society and its institutions. Thus in medieval England there were programs to clear brush and other concealment on either side of the king’s roads as a precaution against robbers, and to protect citizens from night thieves there were night watchmen. In the United States in modern times, these rudimentary security measures find their counterparts in the cleared areas adjoining perimeter fences and buildings, in security patrols, and in intrusion alarms. Throughout history it is possible to trace the emerging concept of security as a response to, and a reflection of, a changing society, mirroring both its social structure and its economic conditions, its perception of law and crime, and its morality. Thus, security remains a field of both tradition and dramatic change. The introduction of high-tech systems and computers has changed the nature of the job of the 21st century security professional. Security today must be directed toward modern problems including computer crime and world terrorism, yet we cannot forget the basic foundations on which the field has developed.

Security in England

The development of systems of protection (security) and law enforcement in England began to come with greater rapidity and sophistication beginning in the 14th through the 18th centuries. Seeds for this development were planted during the social revolution that heralded the end of the remaining elements of the feudal structure in the latter half of the 13th century.

Security was one thing in a largely rural society controlled by kings and feudal barons; it was another thing entirely in a world swept by enormous changes. The voyages of exploration, which opened new markets and trade routes, created a new and increasingly important merchant class whose activities came to dominate the port cities and trading centers. Concurrently, acts of enclosure and consolidation drove displaced small tenants off the land, and they migrated to the cities in great numbers.

By 1700 the social patterns of the Middle Ages were breaking down. Increased urbanization of the population had created conditions of considerable hardship. Poverty and crime increased rapidly. No public law enforcement agencies existed that could restrain the mounting wave of crime and violence, and no agencies existed that could alleviate the causes of the problem.

Different kinds of police agencies were privately formed. Individual merchants hired men to guard their property. Merchant associations also created the merchant police to guard shops and warehouses. Night watchmen were employed to make their rounds. Agents were engaged to recover stolen property, and the people of various parishes into which the major cities were divided hired parochial police.

Attention then turned to the reaffirmation of laws to protect the common good. Although the Court of Star Chamber, which gave the English monarchy all control over decisions of law, had been abolished in 1641, its practices were not officially proscribed until 1689 when Parliament agreed to crown William and Mary if they would reaffirm the ancient rights and privileges of the people. They agreed, and Parliament ratified the Bill of Rights, which for all time limited the power of the king as well as affirming and protecting the inalienable rights of the individual.

Security in the United States

Security practices in the early days of colonial America followed the patterns that colonists had been familiar with in England. The need for mutual protection in a new and alien land drew them together in groups much like those of earlier centuries.

As the settlers moved west in Massachusetts, along the Mohawk Valley in New York, and into central Pennsylvania and Virginia, the need for protection against hostile Indians and other colonists—French and Spanish—was their principal security interest. Settlements generally consisted of a central fort or stockade surrounded by the farms of the inhabitants. If hostilities threatened, an alarm was sounded and the members of the community left their homes for the protection of the fort, where all able-bodied persons were involved in its defense. In such circumstances, a semi-military flavor often characterized security measures, which included guard posts and occasional patrols.

Protection of people and property in established towns again followed English traditions. Sheriffs were elected as chief security officers in colonial Virginia and Georgia; constables were appointed in New England. Watchmen were hired to patrol the streets at night. As Private Security: Report of the Task Force on Private Security notes, “These watchmen remained familiar figures and constituted the primary security measures until the establishment of full-time police forces in the mid-1800’s.”2

Such watchmen, it should be pointed out, were without training, had no legal authority, were either volunteer or else paid a pittance, and were generally held in low regard— circumstances that bear a remarkable similarity to observations in the RAND report on private security in...