History of Private Security

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Ancient Times1

Middle Ages2

1800s2

1900s3

Post WWII4

The Professional Development of Private Security5

Conclusion6

References7

History of Private Security

Introduction

The private security has a very rich and deep standing in the history. Contrary to the beliefs, the history of private security is deeper than the public security services. It is not before than 300 years, that bodies were state-established for security of general public. This paper discusses the historical development of private security in the U.S. context and discusses the needs that pushed the development of this private security service. In addition, this paper discusses the private security services move towards professionalism. Also, the need to study historical development for professionals in the private security is part of this paper.

Ancient Times

The security is not a new concept it is evident in the history that wealthy people have hired security persons or agencies to protect their belongingness and lives. In fact, in old times the security was a pure matter of private security. No later than 300 years, there was no concept of security agencies guarding the welfare of general public (Maggio, 2009). In the ancient times of Egypt, we find the evidences of first use of hired guards by the Pharaoh Ramses II during the 13th century. During the foreign campaigns, Pharaoh use to rely on the foreign corps of Nubians which were known as Medjai, which is basically a generic term for guard or scouts. The wall paintings of ancient buildings in Egypt clearly portray the hiring of private body guards which included soldiers, Syrian, Sherdens of Sardinia, Libya, and Canaanites by Ramses II (Maggio, 2009).

The Roman history also portrays evidences of Private security in the form of slave guards for the protection of the wealthy rulers and their belongings. Apart from slaves, well trained and well known soldiers were hired as private security during summer and spring months, when not on military campaigns. The slaves were considered cheaper and were used mostly to protect the buildings of their masters. The Roman Emperor also had corps of soldier as elite bodyguards which were known as Praetorian Guard. The job of these guards was to form an additional check against crime and turmoil in Rome. These guards use to take oaths from the ruler and had to roam streets in normal cloths because of resistance against military rule in general public. This story in the history is continued in different nations in different words.

Middle Ages

During the middle ages, the justice and law realms saw significant advancements. The foundation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Magna Carta, was issued by King John. The plainclothes detective unit was referred to as Bow Street Runners was formed by the 18th century. The uniformed and salaried personnel were hired for the first time in 1829 which is the start of police force (Maggio, 2009).

1800s

In the 1800s the increased use of train and increased threats of being robbed made the statutory bodies of that time to stipulate laws that made it ...