Markets in Policing: The Appetite for and Organisational, Cultural and Moral Limits to Markets in Public Policing

Policing stands at a crossroads in the light of fiscal restraint by governments, the growing maturity of the private security industry and persistent public demands for police provision in insecure times. In Britain, as in some other jurisdictions, austerity measures have prompted consideration of previously unpalatable proposals to outsource aspects of policing to the private sector and foster innovations in public-private partnerships. Governments have been prompted to reassess the police mission and workforce, look for new sources of revenue, consider outsourcing to private providers and engage citizens and civil society organisations in new ways. The British Government has moved further and faster than most, making clear its ideological commitment to greater private sector involvement in the delivery of policing. Developments in the UK have been marked by the absence of rigorous debate about the implications of and limits to greater private sector involvement in public policing. Many commentators agree that there are some 'core' areas of policing that the private sector should not take away from the police. However, here is little agreement about what this core constitutes, what differentiates it from other aspects of policing, what the limits to private sector involvement should be or the principles upon which outsourcing should operate. There has been a distinct lack of public discussion, limited scrutiny of outsourcing initiatives and an absence of systematic academic, practitioner and policy deliberation reflecting on insights from research, as well as comparative experiences across the globe. There has been insufficient engagement with the lessons of outsourcing in other areas of public service delivery, the value of public goods and the wider philosophical debates about the limits and effects of markets. Consequently, there are evident risks that, in Britain at least, outsourcing of key aspects of police work may unfold in an ad-hoc and unprincipled manner. This seminar series fills this void by stimulating an evidence-based and principled debate among policy-makers, senior practitioners and academics about the appetite for, and limits to, private sector involvement in public policing. It will bring together key representatives of different interests and organisations to explore the parameters and regulation of markets in policing. The core group of participants to the full series include: senior police managers; Police and Crime Commissioners; national police bodies; rank-and-file police officers; private security firms; security industry associations and regulators; policy think-tanks; established policing scholars; early career researchers and PhD students. It will stimulate a debate which is grounded in research evidence, normative principles and insights from practice in the UK and beyond. Seminars will be structured in such a way as to explore the politics of market reforms, the moral parameters and principles of income generation schemes and private sector involvement in police-work and the regulation of the markets in policing. It will also consider public-private developments in a number of specified areas of policing including public order, mass events, police custody, cyber-crime and the internet, the night-time economy and neighbourhood patrols. Whilst primarily focused on British policy innovations, the series will seek to locate these in a wider international and cross-cultural context. It will benefit from consideration of analogous developments and debates in a number of European countries as well as North America and learn from leading international scholars. Reciprocally, the series will seek to inform international understanding. Key deliberations and debates will be open to wider audiences via video-link and webinars. The series will actively engage the media and seek to encourage public discussion by disseminating its findings and conclusions via a policy briefing with recommendations.